Briarcliff Crushes North Salem in a Class B Quarterfinal

By Danny Lopriore

The Briarcliff Bears advanced to the Section 1, Class B basketball semifinal round with a blistering 80-34 victory over visiting North Salem Wednesday.

The third-seeded Bears, who lifted their overall record to 18-4 and are in the Final Four at the County Center for the fourth consecutive season, face No. 2 Irvington next.

“We always preach that we play until the clock says zero, whether it’s a tight game or we’re up or down 20,” Bears coach Cody Moffett said following the lopsided win. “I told the guys just before we took the floor that I wanted to close my eyes and not look at the score and hear you guys focus on defense and see you guys playing with intensity.”

Moffett is not as concerned about who his team is playing, but how they are playing as the semifinal approaches.

“If you come out with the mentality that it’s more about how we’re playing and not who, that’s the goal,” he said. “My only concern now is the next game. That’s why we care about intensity throughout a game.”

Senior guard Jack Ryan provided the early impetus for the runaway win, scoring 10 of his 14 points in the first quarter as the Bears jumped to a 22-9 lead. Junior guard Miles Jones, who led all scorers with 20 points, took over in the second quarter, pushing the fast break offense and scoring seven of his points in a 26-1 run.

“I’m not always looking to shoot first, but we got the break going and I just tried to finish,” Ryan said. “I had some open shots.”

North Salem may have been defeated before the game started, losing leading scorer and rebounder Kendrick Tchoua, who moved out of the district almost overnight after having practiced with the team Saturday. According to North Salem coach Henry Sassone, Tchoua unexpectedly moved with his step father back to Maryland this week.

Junior Taijon Tribble was a factor off the bench early when starter Brian McCann got into early foul trouble. Tribble was a force inside, grabbing six rebounds and scoring 11 points and playing tough defense. Tribble and the rest of the Bears reserves played major minutes, proving that the bench was not just a place to sit.

“No one thinks about how we are on the bench and not starting because coach has us all in the game,” Tribble said. “When I get in the games, it’s about playing good defense, doing my job, playing as a team. Today I got to contribute points too.”

While the offense was producing points, the Briarcliff defense never let up despite stretching the lead to 48-10 at halftime and 64-24 after three quarters.

Reserve players Nick Reish and Tucker Wexler helped keep up the offensive and defensive intensity despite the big leads. The Bears’ bench scored 32 points in all, led by Tribble, Reish with four and Henry Anderson with 8.

“We all have a job to do and coach expects us to keep up the level of intensity,” Wexler said. “We talk on the bench and watch what’s going on.”

According to Reish, each of his teammates has a role to play.

“Coach is always telling us about keeping up the intensity no matter what the score is,” he said. “We all do that when we get in the game.”

Moffett’s coaching philosophy exactly. The bench, no matter who is sitting there, is in the game.

“We talk about things on the bench, whether it’s the starters or the reserves,” he said. “If I yell at a player, I echo it down the bench. It helps so they don’t make the same mistakes when they go back in.”

The Final Four coach said that he stresses defense throughout despite the score.

“When I yell at guys defensively, it’s not perceived as being disrespectful because we have to have that attitude and brand because defense travels,” Moffett said.

And he hopes that Bears’ Brand travels all the way to a Section 1 title.