This season has been one of streaks for the Rye Neck boys basketball team.
They began their season with nine consecutive wins. Then, between Jan. 15 and Jan. 23, they lost three games in a row, including two at home and two by single digits. Then they won two games in a row.
The Panthers were able to prevent their latest loss, a 62-48 setback Jan. 31 at Westlake, from turning into another streak. The team bounced back with a 51-35 win against Valhalla on Tuesday night, which they’ll look to build on in their next game, 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Blind Brook (13-4).
The Panthers’ record now stands at an impressive 12-4. Coming off a 13-9 finish last season, coach Mike Denman knew this year’s squad was poised to take a big step.
“We returned a lot of players [from last season], so our thought was to compete for the league title and to get a home playoff game,” he said.
Junior Thomas McNiff led Rye Neck with 24 points in the win over Valhalla. Senior Kyle Harris scored 14, and junior Davey Ryan added 11.
The loss at Westlake was the second time Rye Neck has fallen to the league-rival Wildcats this season. Ryan led the Panthers with 13 points, Harris added 11 and McNiff 10.
Rye Neck’s narrowest victory of the season came Jan. 27 against Briarcliff, a 54-50 nail-biter. Harris paced the Panthers in scoring with 24 points. Ryan contributed 15 points of his own, while junior Dante Friedman added nine.
Prior to that, the boys snapped their three-game losing streak on Jan. 25 with a big home win against Irvington. In a game that was close through three quarters, the Panthers, led this time by Ryan, asserted themselves in the fourth quarter and pulled out a 54-41 victory. Ryan led the team in scoring with 26 points. Junior Logan Williams had 11 points, and Harris scored seven.
Harris leads the team with 18 points per game this season, while Ryan averages nearly 16 points. Denman also cited Friedman’s three-point marksmanship as a catalyst for the team offensively. Meanwhile, McNiff and Williams help to anchor a stellar defense that has more than held up alongside the team’s offensive output.
In what has been an up-and-down year, the Panthers now enter the final stretch of the regular season, with just four games remaining before playoffs begin. This close to the start of Sectionals, they know their goals are right before them, and their destiny is in their own hands.
“We are still competing for the league title and to get a home playoff game,” Denman said. “From there, anything can happen. Two wins in the playoffs means we make it back to the County Center, which would be nice to get back to.”
The team played in the Section 1 Class B playoffs at the Westchester County Center in 2023, before losing to Valhalla in the semifinals.
