In their last home game before the Christmas break, the boys’ basketball team trounced the Ross School, 70-40, yesterday to improve to 30-0 all-time vs. the Ravens and 6-1 on the season.

A number of young alums were in the house including former basketball players John Eshirow ’17, Rob Sparacio ’16, and Brandon Providence ’17 and the current Bears treated them to a defensive show. The Blue and White limited Ross to a single point in the opening quarter and held them without a field goal until 6:42 remained in the second frame as they built an insurmountable lead. The defense spurred numerous offensive opportunities and after a flurry of layups the Brook held a 12-0 lead just 2:53 into the game. Jai Narain paced the Bears in what became a 29-1 first quarter, scoring all nine of his points on three layups, including a tough double-clutch shot, and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. James Toney added eight of his 12 points in the frame.

The Bear lead mushroomed to as much as 33 in the second quarter after Colin Scanlon drilled a 3-pointer and the Brook went into the break up 41-10. They opened the third frame with a 6-2 spurt to push the lead to 35, but Ross responded with a 12-0 run to bring the gap back to 47-24. Rex Eshirow ended the scoring run with a layup, then closed the quarter with a floater to give the Bears a 51-26 edge heading into the fourth.

The Bears substituted liberally throughout the game and several players shone in their extended minutes. Antonio Rizzo scored all nine of his points in the final frame, knocking down three 3-pointers including consecutive bombs to open the quarter. Josh Aduba and Jerry Li controlled the boards, Colin Scanlon ran the offense with poise, Andy D’Alessio was a menace on defense, and Nick Liberatore knocked down his first 3-pointer of the season. The second team outscored Ross 19-14 in the fourth to finish the rout.

The day’s scoring was incredibly well balanced. Toney’s 12 points and 10 rebounds led the way while Narain (9), Rizzo (9), Owen Sobel (8), Seamus Scanlon (8), Li (6), Colin Scanlon (5), Eshirow (4), Liberatore (4), Aduba (2), Emil Vaughn (2), and D’Alessio (1) rounded out the attack.

The Bears head to Bridgehampton on Wednesday in their final game before Christmas.

---