Irvington Edges Out Briarcliff in Come-From-Behind Victory

Seniors Chris Brennan and Parris Purcelle have been the go-to options for Irvington since opening night of the 2010-11 campaign, when the Bulldogs relinquished an 11-point fourth quarter lead to Dobbs Ferry.

The two scorers have stuffed the score sheet and have forced teams to apply a triangle-and-two defense in order to negate their vaunted 1-2 punch.

Senior off guard Ryan Cooper has shouldered the tag of defensive specialist, clamping down on the opponents' top guard in a nightly basis.

It was only fitting that all three helped spearhead Irvington's stunning, come-from-behind 53-52 upset over Briarcliff in the Section I quarterfinals Tuesday night.

Briarcliff sophomore Ryan Huegel sank two free throws with 16.4 seconds remaining to give Briarcliff a 52-50 edge.

On Irvington's final possession, Brennan took the ball to the rack, completed a banker, and drew a foul as 7.4 seconds remaining on the clock. The senior steered a searing, microscopic pressure cooker by netting the free throw to complete the traditional three-point play. Briarcliff's final shot attempt, a 15-foot jumper, was off the mark. The green-clad section of  erupted, with fans swarming likely savior and energy-bleeding Brennan (18 points).

 "Chris is clutch, so when he got the And-1, I knew he was going to make the free throw," said Purcelle, who dropped a game-high 21 points.

The Bulldogs, which came barking back from an eight-point deficit in a dizzying affair that featured numerous runs and lead changes, avenged a late-season loss to the Bears.

Now Irvington is headed back to the County Center, where they will join Rivertowns foes Dobbs Ferry (which defeated Valhalla 58-50) and Hastings (which pulled off the biggest upset in Class B with a win over top-ranked Blind Brook) in the Section I Final Four. The Bulldogs will play Albertus Magnus, a 10-point winner over Woodlands, in the sectional semifinals.

It is suddenly bedlam in Bulldog country.

Is there anything Irvington, which surrendered a 9-0 surge at the end of the third quarter before roaring back, can do to top this feeling?

"I don't think so," said an emotional Mike Auerbach, Irvington's first-year coach who spent the last four years as an assistant at Briarcliff. "To tell you the truth, I'm not even sure what's going on right now. This is a great feeling. Our defensive pressure was big for us. Ryan Cooper has been unbelievable for us all year. Everyone he's guarded, he's held them to under their scoring average. He came up with some big steals and really just disrupted Briarcliff's offense. We switched into a man-to-man, which we've been particularly good at this season."

Briarcliff seemed bound for a bigger show when senior Tim Blair permeated the nooks and crannies of Irvington's defense and scored on a strong take, supplying Briarcliff with a 42-34 lead with 21.8 ticks remaining in the third quarter.

Blair, a versatile five-tool talent at 6-foot-6, scored 16 points and drilled timely three-pointers throughout. Yet Purcelle stole the show in a pulsating fourth quarter.

With Briarcliff running a play in their half-court set, Purcelle poked away the ball, raced down court and finished above the rim, slicing the Bears' lead to 45-44. The bucket capped a blink-quick 6-0 surge and kick-started Purcelle's late-game theatrics.

Brian Daniels was fouled on the other end. That's when the level of intrigue and intensity was ratcheted up.

The sophomore knocked back the first free throw. The Irvington cheering section raised the decibel levels to ear-drum shattering crescendo.

Daniels missed the second, but Blair followed with a tip-in as Briarcliff seized a 48-44 edge on the 3-point possession. Cooper's steal led to a pair of Brennan free throws. Brennan missed the front end of a one-in-one but Purcelle was there for the tip-in, again cutting the lead to two.

Free throws from Daniels and Wen provided Briarcliff with a 50-46 edge, but the high-flying Purcelle soared in for yet another stickback to make it 50-48 with 48.4 seconds remaining in the down-to-the-wire thriller.

"This is the hardest obviously for the seniors," said Briarcliff coach Matt Evangelista, who will bid adieu to three-year veterans Blair and Thomas Wen.

"That's definitely the hardest part of the night. With the younger kids, it's easier to tell them 'look, this should be motivation for you for next year. But this is difficult for the seniors."

Blair is a point-forward with extended range and unbridled leadership. Wen is the team's most efficient free throw shooter, passer; and the senior owned one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios in Section I the past three seasons. A potent nuclues of talent returns, starting with sophomores Huegel and Daniels.

Irvington is eager to rewrite the past at the County Center, where they squandered a 20-0 lead in a semifinal loss to Woodlands last season.

"This is huge," said Purcelle, who wants to exercise the County Center demon that derailed his team last year. "We went up 20 and we lost that game, so it was embarrassing. Now we're getting our second chance."

Editor's Note: This article's headline has been changed to read "Irvington Edges out Briarcliff," not Pleasantville as was originally written.