Columbia Prep pulled off nearly an impossible feat in its championship victory – not only erasing a 25-point deficit in the third quarter, but also silencing a raucous Trevor Day crowd in the process.
Columbia Prep defeated Trevor Day, 73-71, to claim the NYCAL boys basketball title in remarkable fashion Friday night at CCNY.
With the game tied at 71 and less than 10 seconds remaining, sophomore Matt Fischman had the ball and the game in his hands. Both sets of fans were on their feet, rocking the gym at City College, something they did from the tip.
After seeing his team fight tooth and nail to get back into the game, Fischman knew he had to finish the job.
“It was a tie game and I knew what I had to do,” said Fischman. “We fought back so hard, we had to win the game, they are our rivals, so I knew I had to hit the shot.”
That’s exactly what he did for Columbia Prep, driving the lane and sinking the layup with 3.6 seconds left. Trevor Day would get another possession, but would air ball a 3-point attempt.
Silence, that’s exactly what Fischman (12 points) and leading scorer Brian Lissak (34 points) brought upon the Trevor Day crowd. While the two celebrated with the rest of Columbia Prep (16-8), the rowdy Trevor Day crowd was left there stunned.
That same student section came fully armed with vuvuzelas only to be told to stop using them and warranted multiple security guards to assure that control was maintained. Finally, the same crowd that chanted “scoreboard!” as they witnessed their team build a 46-21 lead was silent.
The party started early for Trevor Day (15-9), who was led by freshman guard Elijah Frater (30 points). They built their biggest lead of 25 points with a little more than five minutes left to play in the third quarter. They were coasting and the crowd was rocking. They motivated their team and at the same time threw Columbia Prep off its game.
“It was a combination of them playing great basketball, and their crowd,” Columbia Prep coach Ryan Pettit said. “They got out on us early, and they fed off their crowd. It was tough to get into a rhythm.”
Columbia Prep found their rhythm with five minutes left in the third, where it would slowly chip away at Trevor Day’s lead, and ultimately tie the game at the three-minute mark in the fourth. It all started with a coaching adjustment by Pettit: the decision to throw a new press at Trevor Day.
“We played them twice before and we’ve never seen that press, that was the difference in the game, Trevor Day coach Lyle Friess said. “You have to give them all the credit for this victory.”
It started with the press and then Lissak took it from there. Lissak, who scored 20 of his 34 points in the second half, never believed that his team was out this game.
“We never had a doubt that we could come back and win, and that’s exactly what we did,” Lissak said. “Coach told us at halftime to dig down deep and see what was inside of us. I guess we found something.”
Every sports cliché in the book can be connected to the type of win that Columbia Prep put together in this game. Pettit channeled his inner Charles Barkley to sum up his team’s remarkable comeback: “Sometimes it’s not so much about the Xs and Os, but more about the Jims and Joes.”
They had player after player step up in big spots. Junior Tonio Vassilaros , who had to leave the game early after receiving a cut on his chin, one that will require him to get stitches, put a hospital visit on the backburner. After being patched up by the medical staff, Vassilaros returned to lead Columbia Prep’s press, delivering an emotional lift to the team.
“He showed a lot of heart out there, coming back,” said Pettit. “He wanted nothing more to be out there, he lead our press, and gave us a lift.”
Columbia Prep will now look forward to the NYSAISAA Class B tournament, where they drew a matchup with Poly Prep in the first round.
