By JEREMY FUCHS
ROSELLE, N.J. —Isaiah Briscoe says that this season is “TOC or bust.”
So far, so good.
Briscoe and Roselle Catholic dominated Plainfield Saturday night in Roselle, winning 74-43.
Briscoe, ranked 13th in the ESPN 100 and headed to Kentucky next year, scored 21, despite sitting out the fourth quarter.
“This is the start I wanted,” Briscoe told SNY.tv. “I think it went well. From here we’re going to build. Everybody clicked.”
Briscoe, who averaged 22.1 points and four assists last season, is the engine that drives Roselle Catholic. Plainfield knew this, and played the silky guard very physically. For Briscoe, this is nothing new.
“It’s been like that ever since eighth grade,” Briscoe said. “So I’m used to it. I let my game do the talking.”
The next great Kentucky point guard, Briscoe demurred when asked if he was helping to recruit potential Kentucky targets in Malik Newman, the third-ranked player on the ESPN 100 and Antonio Blakeney, the 14th-ranked player on the ESPN100.
“Whoever wants to come [to Kentucky] will come,” Briscoe said. “It is what it is.”
On the court, Briscoe and South Carolina-bound forward Chris Silva were simply too much for Plainfield to handle.
“I thought they both had good games,” coach Dave Boff told SNY.tv. “They were tuned in. They gave us good energy early in the game. Isaiah made a few plays early that helped us, Chris was on the offensive glass early.
Silva, the 96th-ranked player on the ESPN 100, scored 14 points and was dominant on defense, blocking shots and grabbing rebounds, in addition to slamming home a few feeds from Briscoe. The high-low combination of Silva and Briscoe will be tough for any team to stop.
Roselle Catholic, the fifth-ranked high school program in USA Today’s rankings, has a very tough schedule that will be a good barometer for their TOC readiness. They play St. Anthony’s, The Patrick School, DeMatha, St. Benedict’s Prep, Our Savior New American and Montverde, which features Ben Simmons, the LSU-bound number one recruit in the country.
But the Tournament of Champions is still first on their minds.
“Yeah, why not?” Briscoe said, when asked about their chances to get to the TOC. “We’re going to be all right, get better and better.”
Now that Karl-Anthony Towns is at Kentucky, St. Joe’s Metuchen should no longer be a huge threat to Roselle Catholic. Gill St. Bernard, with Duke target Tyus Battle is tough, but probably does not have the depth that Roselle Catholic has. In addition to Briscoe and Silva, RC features Monmouth-bound Pierre Sarr, 2016 point guard Asante Gist, 2016 forward Matt Bullock and 6-9 freshman Naz Reid, among the top 2018 players. Between the star power of Silva and Briscoe, the depth, and the solid coaching, RC is going to be a really tough out.
It was the first start in their run to the TOC, and it was an easy one against a Plainfield team that beat RC last season. With all eyes on Briscoe, it will be up to the guard to deliever.
So far, so good.
“I’m pretty satisfied,” Boff said. “I wouldn’t say I’m really excited. But I’m satisfied with the fact we took care of business, everybody contributed which I was hoping they would do tonight. Just gotta go back to work tomorrow.”
Photo: NJ.com
