Harrison Holds off Rye in Rivalry Game

The Harrison Huskies jumped out to an early lead and then held off a late surge by the Rye Garnets to win an exciting rivalry game at the Westchester County Center Monday night.

Harrison built a 32-25 halftime lead thanks to a strong effort from forward Dennis Rinaldi, who finished with a team-high 23 points. Rye, meanwhile struggled to find the form that led them to a Section 1 final four appearance last season.

"I thought we came out tight in the first five minutes. I thought we were living and dying by the jump shot," said Rye Head Coach Chris DiCintio. "Once we started to go to the game plan, get the ball inside and press, I thought that we started to generate some energy and then we started to play with a lot more confidence."

In the second half, Rye used their press defense to close the gap, but couldn't establish a lead thanks to a great effort from the Harrison backcourt.

"I knew our guards could handle it," said Rinaldi. "They've been doing it all year."

The Huskies were ready though.

"We knew some kind of press was coming," added Harrison Head Coach Gary Chiarella.  "We tried to be organized; we worked on it all week."

But Rye attacked the interior on offense and inched closer throughout the second half.  Rye answered every time Harrison appeared to gain momentum, never allowing the game to get out of reach.

"I think that it really comes down to that they started to take pride," said DiCintio.

The game's outcome was still in limbo when Rye forward Brian Pickup scored the last of his game-high 28 points to close the lead to three with less that 20 seconds remaining.  Rye was then forced to foul Rinaldi with only 5.8 seconds to play, giving the eventual game's most valuable player a chance to put the game out of reach.

"I was thinking I wanted the ball, I wanted to take those free throws," said Rinaldi.  "I told coach I wasn't going to miss them."

Rinaldi followed through on his promise, sinking both shots from the line, ending any hopes of a Rye comeback. Harrison won the game 58-53.

"I told the kids in the locker room, be proud of how you fought in the last three quarters and good things will happen for us if we continue to play that way," said DiCintio in reaction to the difficult loss.

Fundamentals proved to be crucial down the stretch for Harrison. The Huskies withstood defensive pressure, made clutch free throws and came down with crucial rebounds down the stretch in route to the victory. 

"I knew they wouldn't go away when we were up early, I knew they were going to come back," said Chiarella. "We rebounded when we needed to rebound so it worked out pretty good."