Brandon Weiss leads Jericho past Wantagh, into Nassau semifinals

When a coach like Wally Bachman sings your praises, you know you are doing something right.

Bachman, in his 27th year as the Jericho boys basketball coach, has produced five championship teams and is a member of three different halls of fame.  Still, a player sometimes can still astound a coach who has seen almost everything in the world of Long Island basketball.

On Saturday, that player was Brandon Weiss. The Jayhawks' senior guard scored 25 points and had an answer for every charge the team from Wantagh was about to mount.

“I’ve been coaching a lot of years, he’s probably one of the most special people I’ve had,” Bachman said. “When the game is on the line, he can make things happen.”

Weiss did this throughout Saturday’s Nassau Class A quarterfinal in host No. 4 Jericho’s 74-63 victory over No. 5 Wantagh. With the win, Jericho advances to play top-seeded Elmont (16-5) in the Nassau Class A semifinals at Farmingdale State College on Saturday at 4 p.m.

“One of our first goals at the start of the season was to play at Farmingdale,” Weiss said. “We watched the teams last year play and it inspired us.”

Weiss scored at least four points in every quarter, including eight points in the second and fourth. The senior knocked down a three-pointer to give Jericho a 20-18 lead with 5:42 remaining in the second quarter for the game’s seventh lead change and the Jayhawks never trailed after. Jericho (18-3) ended the opening half on a 19-10 run.

“That was a huge run,” Weiss said. “We never lost composure. Every time they scored, we just went right back at them and we played hard the whole game.”

Wantagh (17-4) cut Jericho’s 11-point lead late in the third quarter down to four points midway through the fourth quarter. But it was Weiss again with a field goal to give Jericho a 63-57 advantage with 2:39 left in the game.

“He’s a beast, I love playing with him,” forward Philip Priolo said. “You can always count on him to get that big bucket.”

Priolo added 12 points and was tasked with some of the most difficult defensive assignments, including trying to contain Wantagh's 6-7 Brandon Goldberg (23 points) late in the game. Jaden Ventura led Wantagh with 25 points.

“Defense wins championships and that’s what I’ve been going for since I was young,” Priolo said. “Just play hard defense and the offense will come to you.”

Yaewon You added 18 points and Jeremy Rothman had 10 points in the win.

Next up will be a tough task for Jericho against the top-seeded Spartans, but the Jayhawks believe they're ready for the challenge.

“We’re not going to back down from them just because they are a good team,” Weiss said. “We know we can play with them and we know we can beat them.”