Bears Wallop Pleasantville In Blood Feud Renewed

Briarcliff seniors Thomas Wen and Tim Blair, the longest-tenured players on the Bears’ youth-laden roster, typically don’t need much motivation before playing Pleasantville.

Briarcliff/Pleasantville has been one of the most traditional blood rivalries on this side of New Rochelle/Mount Vernon. It’s a small-school rivalry between two cross-town foes that always brings out a high intensity battle.

Only at the Bears’ team breakfast, Briarcliff Coach Matt Evangelista reminded Wen and Blair, both of whom played significant roles, that this season is about unfinished business.

“I told them, ‘You guys are down 3-1 in this rivalry, you guys have to get two this year and even it up,'" he revealed.

The rivalry was renewed, with the hostilities ramped up in the stands, but Briarcliff put the game out of reach early. Briarcliff, which overwhelmed Bob Delle Bovi’s young Panthers squad in every phase of the game (Pleasantville lost much of its luster from last season’s stacked squad, led by All-State forward Jack Bramswig and an all-senior lineup), rolled to an end-to-end 62-37 thumping.

“I think it’s one of the most intense rivalries in Section 1,” said Blair, who scored 14 points and was honored before the game as part of Briarcliff’s Senior Day ceremony. “I think we just came out fired up. It was awesome not only to play our rivals on our Senior Day, but it’s awesome to get a win like this. Thomas Wen and I have been talking about this day for the last three years, our last home game. We kept joking, saying it would never come and that we would be teammates forever.”

The third quarter suddenly turned into the Tim Blair show, with the 6-foot-6 senior center leaving his handprints on those dominant eight minutes.

Blair triggered an early 10-0 fire surge, was a monster on the glass, and swatted shots.

His length and presence in the middle changed, manipulated and altered the trajectory of numerous others.

Ryan Huegel, who scored 21 in the , led the team with 15 points. Senior Brett Hirsch added nine and Brian Daniels chipped in with eight.

The Bears led by as many as 27, first on a pair of free throws from Brian Daniels at the start of the fourth quarter. The spread once again swelled to 27, as Briarcliff seized a whopping 54-27 bulge on a Blair putback with 5:01 remaining.

Briarcliff came out of the gate hot, leaking out in transition and owning the offensive glass as they built a commanding 29-13 lead.

What did Delle Bovi tell his youth-laden team (consisting of mostly sophomores and juniors after injuries took their toll on their best player in junior Greg Nicolai) at the intermission?

“I don’t give up, you don’t give up,” said the longtime Pleasantville coach, who earned back-to-back berths in the 2009 and 2010 Section 1 championships.

Bears senior Brett Hirsch ignited the crowd when he buried his first of three 3-pointers. The senior jumped into the rotation this year and evolved into immediate plug in the backcourt.

The Panthers will have their chance to avenge the blowout loss early next week, when they’re slated for back-to-back matchups against Croton and Briarcliff.

Delle Bovi reflected on his halftime talk with the team: “I said ‘let’s build on the positive. They played hard, but we were down 16-5 in the first quarter, I think that set the tone...I mean if it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger."