Husky Basketball Season Ends With Annual Awards Dinner

After a season that seemingly ended to too soon, the Harrison High School varsity basketball coaches honored their players with an awards banquette Wednesday night.

Led by the team's two primary interior players, Dennis Rinaldi and Charles Credendino, the immense buffet was attacked and quickly dismantled by the athletes.

Once the players finished their dinners, coach Gary Chiarella called up each individual underclassman. Each member of the team was greeted with a well deserved applause from the crowd filled with parents and peers. All of the players received a scrapbook as Chiarella said a kind word about each member of the team's contribution during the season.

Chiarella will only have two returning starters next year, Brendan O'Shea and Steven Ricciardi. The coach said of Ricciardi: "He is the best athlete on the team," and said of O'Shea: "He had a lot of responsibility this year and he'll have even more next season. He has the potential to be an all-section player."

Coach Chiarella then broke the ceremony for dessert and coffee before commenting on his senior class.

The ceremony resumed when Coach Chiarella brought up the team's manager R.J. Suhre and commended him for doing a lot of the thankless jobs and behind the scenes work that helped the team be so successful this season.

Coach Chiarella said virtually the same thing for two of his seniors, Brady Klein and Zach Eckland. Both players battled injuries throughout the year, but both Klein and Eckland proved to be valuable assets for the team off the bench and contributed to several of the team's victories.

Chiarella mentioned the other three seniors, then proceeded to hand out some individual awards. The first of which was for the team's "Practice Players of the Year". The award went to the team's co-captains Dennis Rinaldi and Jared Hodes because both players proved to be good examples for the younger members of the team, and because both Rinaldi and Hodes always went hard in practice and provided leadership on and off the court.

"It was nice to see coach noticed what we did in practice and how hard we worked," Hodes said. "Playing alongside Dennis (Rinaldi) is always great, but some of the best moments of the season were when we went up against each other in practice."

The most improved player award went to junior, Michael Jacobson. Jacobson received the award for his improved defense and the solid perimeter shot that he added to his repertoire this season. He played well in a supporting role this year and is sure to see much more time next season.

Matt Pipitone was awarded the coach's award because he rarely missed time despite battling through back problems the entitre season. He also almost single-handedly won a regular season game for the team at Byram Hills.

"I wasn't as healthy as I would have liked to be this year, but we did have some great moments," Pipitone said. "The game against Byram Hills is something I am going to remember for a really long time."

Not surprisingly, the Harrison coaching staff awarded the most valuable player award to Dennis Rinaldi.

"He is the heart and soul of the team," said Chiarella of his team's M.V.P. "He is a fighter and he always wants to win, whether he is out on the court or playing a board game."

The night came to an end as the team gathered around to watch a highlight video that included all of the best moments of the 2009-2010 season. The short film was made by the team's video assistant Michael Ladore and included highlights of each player on the team.

Although the season may have ended in disappointment, the 2009-2010 basketball team was comprised of a special group of young men and they should be commended for their heart and effort throughout the season.

Download the movie