Isaiah Briscoe leads Roselle Catholic to second T of C title in three seasons

TRENTON — Isaiah Briscoe transferred to Roselle Catholic from St. Benedict's for a chance to win the Tournament of Champions. The Kentucky commit said it was "T of C or bust" for the Lions before this season started, and he all but guaranteed victory in recent days.

It wasn't pretty, but Briscoe and the Lions made it happen. The senior point guard had 27 points, six rebounds, two assists and five steals as Roselle Catholic, No. 3 in the NJ.com Top 20, knocked off No. 4 Pope John, 57-45, in the NJSIAA/ShopRite Tournament of Champions final at Sun National Bank Center. The victory earned Roselle Catholic its second T of C title in three years.

"I was just being Isaiah," Briscoe said. "My teammates give me confidence and tell me when to take over the game and when it's time to score. I believe in them, and they believe in me."

Roselle Catholic freshman Nazreon Reid had 12 points in the victory, Chris Silva had eight points and four rebounds and Matt Bullock had a game-high 12 rebounds. Moustapha Diagne led Pope John with 15 points to go with nine rebounds, two assists, four blocks and two steals while Jeromy Rodriguez had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Reid didn't register a single steal in the game, but his presence was felt on the defensive end as his 6-foot-9 frame and elite athleticism at the front of the Roselle Catholic diamond press wreaked havoc on Pope John's offense. Roselle Catholic held the West Jersey power to 31 percent shooting from the field and just one 3-pointer.

"Like I said before, when he comes in the game, he's a game-changer," Briscoe said of Reid. "We put him at the top of the press and he bothers the defenders with his length and athleticism. We know that when he comes into the game, he'll give us a spark off the bench."

The action was sloppy early in the game’s early going, with turnovers slowing the pace of play. Top-seeded Roselle Catholic’s diamond defense gave second-seeded Pope John issues, while the Union County power was careless with the ball as well and struggled to get into a rhythm.

But Roselle Catholic started to take control of the game with nine unanswered points in the first. A pair of free throws and a layup from Briscoe, a Reid layup off a pass from Pierre Sarr, and a 3-pointer from Sarr that helped the three-time defending Non-Public B champion overcome an early hole and take an 11-8 lead after the first quarter.

Briscoe took the game over in the second quarter, scoring 13 in that frame as part of a 19-4 extended run for Roselle Catholic to help make up for the fact that Silva missed most of the first half with foul trouble. Briscoe had 17 points by halftime and Reid had eight as the Roselle squad took a 31-19 lead at the break.

"I saw him pick and chose his moments," Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff said. "He didn't try to do everything early, but he did find those opportunities to impose his will on the game, so to speak, and I thought when he did that it helped us get separation, which was what we needed."

The Syracuse-bound Diagne took advantage of Silva's absence with eight points in the last four minutes of the half to keep the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament champions in the game, while Rodriguez was a solid presence on the boards as well.

Roselle Catholic's defense continued to create fast-break opportunities in the third quarter with Reid taking off for several emphatic dunks. But Pope John started to get its bearings after halftime as Diagne and James Scott fueled the offense and the Sparta squad cut the lead to 45-29 by the start of the fourth quarter.

Pope John went on a 13-6 run in the fourth quarter capped by a jumper from Scott to make cut the lead to single-digits, but the damage was done and Roselle Catholic held on for the title.

Briscoe's "T of C or bust" proclamation at the start of the season put pressure on the team, Boff admits, but there was pressure anyway for the heavy favorite to win this title. And the Lions never cracked.

"Every poll, every newspaper around the country said we had to win the state championship, and if we didn't it would be a bad season. That's a lot of pressure to put on kids," Boff said. "The thing I'm most proud of with this group is that they just dealt with that pressure. They dealt with the expectations and they were fantastic."

Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Schneider. Find NJ.com on Facebook.