New York high school athletics are organized by geography and by student enrollment. For each of the state’s 11 sections, the concept is that competition will be fairer if teams play against similar-sized opponents.
With an enrollment of just over 3,000 students, New Rochelle High School is a Class AAA school. Rye High School, with a 2025-26 enrollment of approximately 900, is a Class AA school.
While the higher classification doesn’t always mean better, when Rye (4-2) beats a team with the Westchester County hoops pedigree of New Rochelle (7-3), it’s a big deal.
Back in action after a lengthy holiday break, the Garnets took down the Huguenots 50-41 on Tuesday at home, thanks to a fiery defensive effort and a breakout, 21-point game by senior Carson Miller.
“I was happy with our first half effort, especially defensively,” said Rye coach Tom Proudian. “It always starts on defense for us, which usually creates good scoring opportunities on offense. When we play the right way, we play really well, which is promising. The potential is definitely there.”
If Rye can bottle its style of play from the second quarter, it will be bad news for the rest of Section 1. The Garnets outscored New Rochelle 21-5 in the quarter to take a 33-16 lead at halftime. Miller put on a basketball clinic with inspired pressing defense, great fast-break passing, and a couple of spectacular finishes at the rim.
The Huguenots stormed back to shrink Rye’s lead to seven entering the fourth quarter, but Rye’s lead was insurmountable.
Junior Ben Hudson finished with 12 points for Rye. Junior Luke Scully and senior Henry Shoemaker both added seven.
This was the beginning of the meat-and-potatoes portion of Rye’s season, with 15 games scheduled in the next six weeks. Next up is a 7 p.m. game Friday at home against Byram Hills.
“We need to clean up some decision making. That will come with practice and film study,” Proudian said. “We’ll learn from our mistakes and continue to improve.”
