Entering the Section 1 Class AA championship game, the Rye boys basketball team had been playing some of the best team defense in Westchester over the past month. But Saturday night at the County Center in White Plains, it was the Tappan Zee Dutchmen who completely stifled the Garnets with their merciless man-to-man pressure defense, closing them out 44-32.
Tappan Zee (22-2) held the Garnets (17-7) to just three baskets and six points in the first quarter — a theme that would continue throughout the night.
As the Dutchmen continued to apply the defensive screws in the second quarter, their 1-2 punch of seniors Xavier Laveille and Tommy Linehan started to provide Tappan Zee with the room they needed offensively.
The Dutchmen defense was so good on Saturday night, that Rye could never get into any kind of an offensive flow the entire game. What few buckets they could muster inside were all contested by Tappan Zee’s physical interior defenders.
With their inside game going quiet, the Garnets were forced to operate out on the perimeter and make up the difference from beyond the 3-point line. The problem was Tappan Zee’s athletic backcourt defenders were also up for the challenge. The Dutchmen were flying everywhere.
Rye’s two All-Section Tournament players Jake Kessler (11 points) and Henry Shoemaker (6 points) tried to keep Rye in the game in the second half, but the Garnets had no answer for Tappan Zee big man Leveille — 19 points and 5 rebounds.
With the Dutchmen ahead 35-20 after three quarters, fans began to trickle out of the County Center. As hard as Rye tried, Tappan Zee was simply the better team Saturday night.
