“We need this game.”

Coach Mike Hickey made that point clear in the pre-game talk before this evening’s match-up with rival Pierson. It was not technically a must-win game, though a loss would have made the Bears’ road to a 17th straight playoff berth a treacherous one, needing wins in their final three games in order to earn the requisite .500 league record.

The Bears responded with one of their most impressive wins of the season, turning a narrow two-point fourth quarter lead into an emphatic 69-49 victory.

Pierson grabbed control early in the first quarter, building a 7-2 lead in the opening minutes. The Bears responded with back-to-back buckets from Jyles Etienne and James Toney, but the Whalers answered with their second 3-pointer of the frame to push their lead to 10-6. Mac Bohuny responded with a 3-point play and Brandon Providence knotted the game at 10-10 with a free throw. The Brook took a brief lead when Etienne battled for two offensive rebounds before scoring a layup, but the third Pierson 3-pointer of the quarter put them up 13-12 with less than 30 seconds. Harry Zhu closed the quarter on a high note by hitting a buzzer-beating floater to grab a 14-13 lead after one.

Zhu’s floater sparked a 12-0 run that vaulted the Bears into a 24-13 lead midway through the second quarter. John Eshirow drained a baseline jumper to open the frame and Zhu followed with a tough, double-clutch layup. Then Eshirow canned a turnaround floater and a layup through contact that forced a Pierson timeout. Two free throws from Bohuny gave the Bears a 24-13 advantage before another Pierson longball halted the run. The Bears absorbed the Whalers’ jab and hit back with a Bohuny layup and a Seamus Scanlon 3-pointer that gave them their biggest lead to that point at 29-16. Pierson’s potent offense righted the ship with a quick 8-0 spurt, punctuated by two 3-pointers, that carved their deficit to five. A Brandon Providence buzzer-beating floater pushed the Blue and White advantage to 31-24 at the break. Etienne was a dominant defensive force in the quarter with three sensational blocks.

A 7-2 run to open the second half gave the Bears a 35-24 lead. Harry Zhu followed with two 3-pointers, the second from deep, to give the Brook a 41-28 edge. Pierson struck back with an 8-2 spurt, but a tough, hanging layup from Zhu pushed the Bear lead back to 45-36. Pierson showed their mettle by engineering a 7-0 run to close the quarter and trail by just 43-45 heading into the fourth.

In the opening moments of the fourth quarter, Emil Vaughn slashed his way through the lane for a layup and Providence followed with a 3-pointer to give the Brook a 50-43 advantage. The Whalers responded with a bucket and a 3-pointer of their own to cut their deficit back to two, at 48-50 with 5:49 remaining. The Swanson faithful braced themselves for a furious finish, but incredibly, the Bears had already scored all the points they would need, holding the Whalers to just one point over the final 5:49 while pouring in 19 of their own. Providence ignited the game-breaking 13-0 run with his second 3-pointer of the quarter. After a Vaughn steal, the Bears scored five points on one trip down the floor to build a commanding 10-point lead.

It began when Bohuny scored a layup while drawing a foul. The senior missed the free throw, but Toney grabbed a huge offensive rebound which led to a clutch Bohuny 3-pointer. After Pierson missed two free throws at the 4:15 mark, Scanlon canned his second 3-pointer to build a 61-48 lead. By the time Pierson ended the run with a free throw at the 2:47 mark, the game was already over. The Bears kept Pierson off the board over the remaining 2:47, thanks to two vicious blocks from Etienne, and Bohuny drained an exclamation point from behind the arc to propel the Brook to a huge 69-49 win.

Bohuny led all scorers with 19 while Zhu turned in one of his most complete games of the season with 14 points on two 3-pointers and several tough layups. Providence (9 points) Eshirow (8), Etienne (6 points/14 rebounds/8 blocks), Scanlon (6), Toney (4), and Vaughn (2) rounded out a balanced scoring attack.

The Bears’ defense looked as good as it has all year, holding the dynamic Whalers to their lowest point total of the season. It was spearheaded by their defense against one of Suffolk County’s most lethal scorers, Will Martin, who was held to his second-lowest output of the season as he scored below 20 points for only the second time in 16 games.

The Bears have won nine out of their last ten against their archrivals, including victories in the last three Suffolk County Championships. The Whalers have not left Swanson with a win since 2012.

The Bears are back in action on Friday night in a senior night match-up with Shelter Island at 6:45pm.

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