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Sports

Garnets Triumph in Final Seconds at Harrison

The Harrison boys kicked off a double header against the Rye Garnets with a hard fought 39-37 loss.

Harrison hosted a basketball double header against Rye Saturday. The Harrison and Rye men faced off first and the Garnets won a defensive battle 39-37 in the final seconds of the game.

The event took place at Harrison High School and it included the pageantry and attendance one would come to expect from a Harrison-Rye football game. Though the game took place indoors and not on the turf of McGillicuddy or Nugent Stadium the rivalry was just as intense and volatile.  Harrison’s Steven Ricciardi missed the contest due to an out-of-state college visit, while Rye’s Brian Pickup would feature prominently in the game.

Harrison got out to a slim lead early in the first half, thanks in large part to a solid defense and Rye’s inability to make shots. The low scoring first half ended with a Michael Jacobson three-pointer that gave Harrison a 17-16 lead. Ten of Rye’s points came from Pickup.

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“We contested, we rebounded a lot better.” said Harrison Head Coach Gary Chiarella of his team’s first quarter. “In the second quarter Pickup picked up the game, he had seven offensive rebounds in the first half. Great player, good rebounder, relentless. He makes a difference.”

Both teams found small offensive spurts in the second half, Harrison fell in love with the deep shot but was unable to get any consistency from beyond the arc or at the free throw line while Rye was led by their co-captain Conor Smith who had nine points in the 3rd quarter.

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“That just happens to us this year, we are slow to start and we stay in the game because of our defense. We let them score 37 points today, last game we let them score 73, we are a defensive-minded team and we can’t let them score that many points,” said Rye’s Smith. “We had confidence after the first quarter, they only had 17 in the first half. I’ll take that any day.”

The lead changed from team to team during the second half ,and with 11 seconds left in the game Rye held a three point advantage while Harrison had the ball. Husky junior Max Bruckner had the ball beyond the arc and as he hoisted it up, Rye’s Pickup tossed Bruckner to the ground. The shot didn’t go in but the Huskies had the opportunity to tie the game from the line. Rye Coach Chris DiCintio tried to ice Bruckner by calling a time out but the junior nailed all three foul shots with ease.

Rye then had a shot to go ahead and Harrison played defense nearly perfectly. The Huskies kept the ball out of the Garnets' key offensive player’s hands and forced Rye to give the ball Chris Twyman. Rye had to break away from their scripted play, but when Twyman took the ball in the low post he turned and put the ball up against a smaller defender, the ball went in with seconds left on the clock. It would be enough for the Garnets to come away with 39-37 victory.

“I knew I had the defender on my back, and I am pretty confident when I am in the post,” said Twyman of his buzzer beater. “That fadeaway right hook from the block is one of my favorite shots to take. Once I got the ball I knew I was going to shoot, it just happened that there were only a few seconds left in the game.”

“We had set up a pick and roll like we were doing the entire second half, but it broke down and we just played basketball,” said Co-Captain Conor Smith. “Chris (Twyman) was open, we got him the ball and he made a good play.”

Rye got the majority of their points from their co-captains, Pickup led the team with 14, and Smith had 13. Harrison only had one player in double figures as Brendan O’Shea had 10 points, Jacobson and Bruckner had nine each.

The victory gives Rye a split on the season series against Harrison and gives them momentum going into Monday afternoon’s home game against Horace Greeley. Harrison is now going through their longest losing streak of the year, but the Huskies will need to regroup quickly as they travel to Bryam Hills on Wednesday.

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