Briarcliff Conquers Region to Reach First Final Four

By Danny Lopriore

The Briarcliff boys’ basketball team overcame full-court playoff pressure Saturday afternoon in a convincing 62-49 victory over Center Moriches in the New York State Class B regional final at Pace University’s Goldstein Fitness Center.

The streaking Section 1 champion Bears (22-4) built an early 10-point lead, then ran through the Red Devils’ pressing defense in the second half, defeating the Section 11 champion to reach the first state Final Four in school history.

Briarcliff will meet Section 2 champion Mekeel Christian Academy in a semifinal matchup at 6:45 p.m. Friday at the Floyd Maines Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton.

Senior guard Jack Ryan ignited the offense early, scoring 10 of his 17 points as Briarcliff built a 21-11 advantage after one quarter. The Bears led 31-23 at halftime and extended their lead to 43-31 with a strong defensive third quarter.

“We controlled the ball and took care of the ball early and that set the tone,” Ryan said. “They are the kind of team that gets out and scores in transition. The fact that our guards handled the pressure and we could score inside and out was huge. We’re not satisfied yet. We are going to enjoy this win, but we had a lot of goals this year and we haven’t reached it yet.”

The always-balanced Bears got major contributions from several players, led by senior big men Jackson Gonseth, who had 18 points and eight rebounds, and Spencer McCann, who scored 11 points, grabbed six rebounds and made two acrobatic blocks at the defensive end.

Bears’ coach Cody Moffett said he was most satisfied with the way his players have performed game-to-game and kept their focus despite playing against teams with different styles and strengths.

“I give the kids all the credit because they understand that our success is as a team with everyone contributing and playing our game,” Moffett said. “Basketball is a great game when players share the ball and do all the basic things right, like box out and communicate on defense. It’s not just a cliché, but defense wins championships. Now, it’s just about moving on and doing the same things we know how to do.”

Sophomore A.J. Panarese added 10 points and junior Miles Jones had six rebounds and six assists. Panarese, Jones and Ryan broke the Devils’ press time and time again and keyed the defense in the backcourt.

“We wanted to play our tempo, not try to go really fast or overplay,” said Panarese, who made all four of his shot attempts. “We settled down and ran plays correctly. This means everything to our team. We didn’t want to have the feeling we had last year when we lost to Pleasantville (in the Section 1 final).”

The Red Devils trailed by double digits for most of the game after closing the gap to 25-21 late in the second quarter. Gonseth and Panarese each hit a clutch 3-pointer to extend the Bears’ lead to 31-23 at the half and the Devils never got any closer than the five points they were within early in the third.

“This is an amazing win,” McCann said. “I like it here at Pace, but we could have been anywhere in the state today and won. It means so much to win this. We had a goal of the section first, but now we are in the Final Four with more to do.”

McCann said the Bears were prepared to deal with the Red Devils’ backcourt pressure and the defense focused on stopping the Devils’ penetration to the basket. Briarcliff wound up winning the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Devils 31-23 in the game.

The Bears also managed to frustrate Center Moriches’ leading scorer, Sean Braithwaite Jr., who, despite scoring 17 points, played just 20 minutes due to foul trouble. Briarcliff also held an edge in free throws, making 16 of 21 overall and 9 of 15 in the fourth quarter. The Red Devils managed to make just 9 of 19 from the foul line.

“I think our coaching and practices have made us a very consistent team,” McCann said. “We wanted to control the inside and limit mistakes. We did all the right things that make a team champions.”

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