Pictures by Jed Lazzeri
On Monday evening, the boys' basketball team opened the 2023-24 campaign with a 97-43 league victory over Waldorf.
A feisty Waldorf team took an early 5-0 lead before Orlando Morris and Paul Coty dropped in buckets to pull the Bears back within 4-5. Waldorf scored on a drive and layup to edge their lead out to 7-4 before a reverse layup from Morris and a Coty putback gave the Bears their first lead at 8-7. A steal and layup from Morris gave The Brook a 10-7 lead, but Waldorf connected on a high-arcing 3-point heave at the buzzer to knot the game at 10-10 after one. The shot sent a charge through the Wolverines' side of the gym, but their hope for a close battle would soon dim as the Bears unleashed an 87-point barrage over the final three quarters.
Alvin Zhou opened the second quarter with a steal and layup before Jeremiah Coty hit a floater to double the lead. Waldorf knotted the game in a blink when they scored a layup, stole the ensuing inbounds pass, and hit another layup to tie the score at 14-14. Zhou answered with a fastbreak layup that gave The Brook the lead for good and ushered in an 8-0 run to give the hosts a cushion. Morris and Jeremiah Coty followed with a layup and floater, before Morris connected on a tough, hanging layup to push the lead to 22-14. The Bear lead grew to as much as 12 in the second when Nate Small stole an inbounds pass and scored to push the lead to 35-23, but a pair of free throws from Waldorf in the waning seconds trimmed the Bear advantage to 35-25 at the half.
The halftime discussion in the Blue & White locker room was no doubt about defensive intensity as the Bears came frothing out of the gate, trapping the ball, full-court pressing, and using five third-quarter steals to fuel the fast break. The Bears outscored the Wolverines 36-8 in the frame to swell the 10-point margin to 38 heading into the fourth. Jeremiah Coty hit a pair of 3-pointers in the frame, but the exclamation point came when Dylan Kopp received a pass from Small, took two dribbles from the top of the key, and thundered home a dunk that brought the Blue Fan Group out of their seats.
From there, the Bears cruised to a 54-point win following a 26-10 final frame that was punctuated by a pair of 3-pointers from the Coty boys. Kopp led all scorers with 28 points while Morris dropped in 22. Paul Coty (14), Jeremiah Coty (13), Randolph Logan (8), Zhou (6), Small (4), and Michael Xiang (2) rounded out the Bears' balanced attack.
The Brook is back on the court this afternoon in a league match-up vs. Solomon Schechter at Island Garden.
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