Terriers win round one vs Holy Cross

FRESH MEADOWS, NY- Every time St. Francis Prep and Holy Cross square off in a Battle of the Boulevard matchup it means someone has the opportunity to etch themselves in the history books and become a major part of the rivalries lore.

That person who has now put themselves among the greats in the history of the two schools rivalry is sophomore guard Latiek Briscoe '22 who in his first time on the floor on the varsity level for this game scored all 17 of his points in the second half, including the three with under 20 seconds left to seal the deal as St. Francis Prep never trailed in taking Round 1 of this season's two regular season matchup's, 57-51 over Holy Cross.

With a full house of 1,500 people filling up the St. Francis Prep gymnasium on Friday night it was one of the more anticipated games between these two longtime rivals in recent years. Both have gotten off to strong starts, putting themselves in position for a possible deep CHSAA playoff run.

Getting a win on Friday would be imperative to keeping each team on the winning track, though Terriers head coach Jimmy Lynch knew that while a matchup with Holy Cross is never easy this one would be particularly difficult because of the presence of Knights guard Tyler Chapman '20.

Calling Chapman one of the top players in the CHSAA this season Lynch said it was his teams goal to limit the senior as much as possible, though he knew that would be a very tough task at the end of the day.

"We just didn't want him taking the floor and going off for 30 because we know Tyler is very capable of that," Lynch explained.

The Terriers were going to throw a lot of different looks at him defensive and hope that on offense they could do enough to get over the top and pull out a victory and earn bragging rights for at least a couple weeks until the two teams meet again.

Todd Rochelle '20 got St. Francis Prep off to a good start as he drained a pair of early threes’ and it wasn't until 4:26 left in the first quarter that Holy Cross got on the board. When the Knights did though they began to claw their way back, with an Anthony Walters '20 short jumper from the wing eventually tying the game at 16 with 5:18 to play in the first half.

Neither team was clicking too much on the offensive end though the Terriers did get 11 from Rochelle to ultimately take a 24-22 lead into the locker room.

Even while holding the lead it was far from the type of half that Lynch wanted or was hoping for from his group. He saw them miss several good looks that could've opened the game up more, though Briscoe said that the message that Lynch gave the team at halftime was short and sweet.

"He said he knows what we are capable of and for us to just go out there and play the best basketball we could because if we did that he was confident in us to go out and win the game," Briscoe said.

Briscoe especially took that to heart because in his first varsity game against the Knights he admitted to some early nerves and went scoreless in the early going. He knew that couldn't continue in the second half if the Terriers were going to hold on with Briscoe saying he told himself to just play the game the way he knew he could and trust that everything else would take care of itself.

Nearly immediately in the third quarter it was Briscoe getting going with his first bucket of the game coming on a straightaway three, and that wouldn't be his last one of those in the game.

St. Francis Prep would grow the lead to as big as 41-31 in the third before Devin Grant '22 would finish on a pair inside to shrink the Terriers lead back to 6 going to the fourth with the game very much still in the balance.

After doing a great job against Chapman for three quarters, the senior star finally started to come alive as he knocked down a pair of contested deep three balls in the fourth that Lynch said there was nothing his team could do against. Great players make great shots and as the game wound down it was Chapman keeping Holy Cross close.

It was the sophomore in Briscoe though who wouldn't let St. Francis Prep be denied as he connected on a tough and one finish with just over two minutes to go, and then with his team up just 54-51 with 22 seconds left it was Briscoe again putting the game away with another straightaway three ball to push the lead to 6 as the Terriers crowd went wild.

The final three of his 17-point second half outburst, that three will already as just a sophomore put Briscoe into the history books as a Terriers legend in rivalry, with Lynch saying in that spot there was no one else he wanted taking that shot than him.

"Latiek just has a knack for making a big time play and in a game like this where you have 1,500 people in the stands that doesn't bother him," Lynch stated. "He was the perfect kid to have the ball in that spot and put us over the top."

Admitting that he felt extremely confident putting the ball up in that spot, Briscoe said as soon as it went in, even though time was left on the clock, he knew what it truly meant.

"So many emotions were going on inside of me," Briscoe said. "All my teammates running at me and I just kept thinking we just won this game and beat Cross."

That's exactly what they did as while Chapman had a game high 22 points for the Knights, it was Briscoe's 17 points and Rochelle's 15 that put St. Francis Prep over the top as they took the lead early and never relinquished it in taking down Holy Cross 57-51 in Round 1 of this year's Battle of the Boulevard.

It's a moment and a game that many will remember Briscoe for moving forward as leading the charge to beat Holy Cross should make him a St. Francis Prep legend to many, though Lynch says he hopes this isn't the end of Briscoe doing big things against the Knights with the sophomore he believes ready for many more outings like this against their heated rivals.

Going back to school on Monday should be interesting for Briscoe as well as he will now go back as the catalyst in the Terriers big win over the Knights, and while some may be looking forward to all the accolades he surely will receive Briscoe says he will do his best to avoid that, hoping if possible he says to treat it like any other day.

"I hope it's just a regular day where I just go to my classes and avoid any attention." Briscoe said with a shy grin about what he hopes for Monday when school resumes. "I'm not sure that will be possible though."

Doubtful for sure, Briscoe and the rest of the Terriers should be the toast of the school as they bask in taking down the Knights with bragging rights on their end of Francis Lewis Boulevard until the two teams meet again come February 7th.