Wherever pick-up basketball is played anywhere in the world, there is one universal rule: you win, you stay on. You play again. Some other group must then organize themselves to challenge you. But the winners get to ask the money question: Who’s got next?
In the Class AA state tournament, Rye’s definitely got next.
After beating Section 9 champion Goshen Central by the unfriendly score of 62-47 Tuesday in Yorktown, the Garnets earned the right to play again on the same court. At 7 p.m. Friday, they’ll face the top Class AA team from Long Island, either Section 8 champion South Side (18-3) or Section 11 champion Smithtown West (21-1). The winner moves onto the state semifinals.
Tuesday’s win was the Garnets’ 11th in their past 12 games, and their fifth-straight playoff victory, but the final score doesn’t tell the whole story. With 2:38 to play in the third quarter, a jumper by senior Milo Shirakawa gave Rye a 44-17 lead.
The Gladiators played valiantly, and remained committed to their strategy of shooting the three ball. And they threw multiple defensive looks – from zone to man – at Rye, trying to settle things down. It didn’t work.
Through the first half, Goshen’s standout player, senior Jimmy Kelly (18 points) tried time and time again to free himself from the clutches of senior Carson Miller’s stifling man-to-man defense. No dice. Goshen could only muster 13 points in the first half and trailed by 21 at the break.
On offense, Rye got contributions inside and out from Miller (18 points), junior Ben Hudson (11), senior Sebastian Lewis (10), Shirakawa, senior Henry Shoemaker, and juniors Luke Scully and Ryan Hess. Most of it came without much resistance.
No Garnet boys basketball team has played this late into March in a long time. But know this: Rye is playing to win. Just ask the players and coaches from Nyack, Horace Greeley, Suffern, Yorktown, and Clarkstown North how they feel about Rye’s chances. Coach Tom Proudian’s squad is loaded with senior leadership and postseason championship pedigree.
