CROSS RIVER, N.Y. - On Tuesday, Dec. 3, John Jay took the court at home and invited Brewster in to open the season. A 26-16 third quarter lead for Brewster had John Jay playing very obliging hosts. But the Wolves refused to be pushovers, and in for the duration, the teams exchanged mini runs that eventually settled the day.
The last one going to Brewster, the Bears scored the final five and left with a 40-38 victory.
The game also began the same way. Billy Pappas pressured John Jay into a turnover that freed William Dignan for a triple and more defense put Joell Drue ahead of the field for a fast break layup.
5-0, John Jay took their turn, and triangulation was the name of the game. First, Will Rickel got the rebound, weaved through the transition defense and fed Will Civetta. On the run, the guard bounce passed to Colin Bishop and the center completed the textbook fast break. Two on the board, good passing kept the Wolves on the move.
Sam Rickel passed into Marc Fein in the paint, and adding Bishop on the baseline, the artwork was a thing of beauty. Fein spotted his big man on the cut, and with traffic still to beat, Bishop went underneath for the reverse layup.
Fein wasn’t done facilitating either. This time on defense, he got a block on Luke Cunningham, and back the other way on the break, Bishop ended up on the line. Going one for two, Bishop was back at it after Sam Rickel and Mathias Baez turned the full court press into an errant pass ahead. Bishop got their first and converted the layup with two Bears on his heels.
Closing the first quarter scoring at 7-6, John Jay again worked the triumvirate to open the second. This time William Green put a bounce pass into Fein, and drawing a crowd, the junior’s bouncer into Bishop let the center go head-on off the glass.
No separation forthcoming, the teams went back and forth. Dignan drilled a three to tie the score, Fein laid in Alexander Palacio’s inbound, and after Drue hit a three and Pappas swung through the paint for a layup. Brendan Corelli’s three tied the game at 14
Timeout called, Brewster returned, and their guards put the ball on the floor to close the half. Pappas started high and got all the way to the rim, and Dignan dropped a jumper when Corelli’s attempt at a steal fell short.
18-14 at the half, a turnaround jumper by Bishop seemed to stop another short run until Brewster started to let fly. Dignan spotted up on Drue’s pass back, and then the shooter returned the favor by driving baseline and freeing up Drue.
Next, the duo got Pappas involved. Drue tore down the defensive rebound, quickly hit Dignan ahead, and he found Pappas behind the defense for the fast break layup.
A ten-point game now, John Jay needed an answer, and Bishop was mostly it. Undeterred by the double team on the baseline, Bishop got the defense up with a fake and hit the short jumper. The string broken, Bishop followed Will Rickel’s coast to coast drive and dropped one from the line at 3:21.
Down five, Corelli contributed when he saw a lane to the rack and so did Sam Rickel’s pressure defense in the backcourt. An errant pass forced, Bishop had the pick and left the continent with a euro step layup to close the quarter at 26-23.
Onto the fourth, Dignan seemed to put out the fire with another triple, but John Jay was still simmering. Will Civetta answered right back with a three, and he wasn’t fazed by Simon Lane’s jumper on the way back. The Wolf stood open two feet behind the arc, and the perfect trajectory closed the Wolves in at 31-29.
6:17 to go, Civetta clapped in celebration, and the party wasn’t quite over. Will Rickel stole the inbound, and after the time out, Rickel put the ball in the paint for another Bishop turnaround jumper.
All tied, now Brewster needed answers, and Dignan had the cheat sheet. He received the inbound in the backcourt, went behind his back, and getting to the baseline, he hit a fall away jumper to regain the lead.
So the mastery left Bishop to match the Bear straight up. He received the ball inside from Fein and went up hard twice before landing on the line.
Two for two, the score was tied at 33, and Fein’s deflection on the inbound gave the ball back to the home team. Civetta missed his chance to take the lead on a three, but the tone was set.
On Brewster’s way back up court, Will Rickel picked off Dignan’s long pass, and Bishop got the chance to facilitate. He rolled left in the paint, fed to Fein, and he swished the short jumper.
35-33 with 4:23 remaining, there was still a long way to go, and this time Pappas provided the reminder. He drove to the basket on the left and sank two from the line at 3:37.
Tied up, a long miss by Dignan let the Wolves play three card monty again. After Bishop grabbed the rebound, Fein received a bounce pass from Civetta and dished to a cutting Bishop on the baseline. All alone, he went off the glass and completed the three-point play at 2:18.
That was all for John Jay, though. Dignan hit a runner at 1:36, and after Civetta’s layup rolled off the rim, Brewster made the most of a miss that went off John Jay. Pappas rolled off the pick, and Dignan’s bounce pass put the guard in position to muscle up a layup.
47 seconds to go, Bishop missed a turnaround jumper, and following Drue’s one for two at the line, Fein missed an open three to seal Brewster’s victory.
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