Irvington Boys Pound Dobbs Ferry in Class B Playoffs

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Irvington knocked off Dobbs Ferry in Class B playoff game. (photo by Justin Luftig)

February 19, 2023

By Tom Pedulla

As the seconds wound down on Irvington’s 59-42 victory against nearby rival Dobbs Ferry, some Bulldogs fans rose to their feet to salute their team. It was well deserved.

The lopsided outcome represented Irvington’s first win in the Section 1 Class B Tournament since 2019 and completed a difficult three-game sweep of the Eagles.

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The triumph also signaled how far the sixth-seeded Bulldogs have come and perhaps how bright their future can be under coach David Boykin. They were seeded 16^th last year and wound up 6-14.

“Just to see the improvement from last year to this year is huge. It just feels so good. The work we put in has paid off,” said Taoig Cypher. The junior forward was deadly from three-point range in pacing both teams with 27 points.

Sophomore C.J. Steinberg tossed in 21 points and was equally accurate from beyond the arc. He sizzled with 10 points in the second quarter and the Bulldogs rallied from a 13-10 deficit after the opening quarter into a 27-22 halftime lead.

Cypher and Steinberg repeatedly connected over Dobbs Ferry’s zone defense. “I was waiting for them to kind of drift out on me, but me and C.J., they were leaving both of us open, so good for us,” Cypher said.

Steinberg was confident no matter what kind of defense the Eagles played. “Zone or man, it doesn’t matter. We have man and zone plays and they’re both good enough,” he said.

Boykin was looking for big games from Cypher and Steinberg as part of an offense orchestrated by quick sophomore point guard Jonny Guerrero. “When they are playing like that and we are moving the ball, we will definitely give everybody a run for their money, that’s for sure,” the coach said.

Center James Oley, the only senior starter, suffered an uncharacteristically poor game on offense. He still played a major role with 21 rebounds and his imposing defensive presence made it very difficult for the visitors to operate in the lane.

Dobbs Ferry, the 11th seed, closed its season at 10-11. It never figured out how to stop Irvington’s blistering shooting from three-point range.

“We were a little concerned about trying to come out of the zone with some man-to-man matchups they would have had,” said veteran coach Scott Patrillo.

Patrillo lamented that his team was not more consistent throughout the schedule. “We were up and down all season. We hoped for a little bit more,” he said. “It’s unfortunate because we always wish we could have done more for our seniors. But our juniors, sophomores and freshmen are going to come back hungry, and we’ll build off that.”

The Eagles will need to step up their game against a young Irvington team that has a chance to develop into a Class B power next winter.

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