The 1986 Chicago Bears, 2000 Baltimore Ravens, and 2003-04 Detroit Pistons all have one thing in common: none of them ever played a game inside the pressure cooker that is Westchester County Center.
But the head coaches of those defensive-minded teams – Mike Ditka, Brian Billick, and Larry Brown – would have loved Rye head coach Tom Proudian.
Proudian’s fifth-seeded Garnets, looking nothing like underdogs, knocked off top-seeded Suffern 60-49 in Monday’s Class AA Section 1 semifinal.
“Defense wins championships,” said Proudian (for the one-millionth time) immediately following the Garnets’ 18th win of the season. “Defense is the strength of our team, and we just knew if we were fortunate to get another crack at Suffern, that we’d have a really good chance to beat them.”
Suffern (20-3) beat Rye (18-5) by 21 in January, but the Garnets stepped up when it mattered most, advancing to face No. 3 Clarkstown North (20-3) in the championship at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the County Center.
After falling in the title game a season ago, the Garnets get another shot this weekend, facing a Rams team they beat by 21 on Feb. 11.
“We played tremendous defense in the first half and backed it up with some terrific outside shooting,” Proudian said. “These boys did this tonight. They did it.”
Three minutes into Monday’s game, Suffern senior Jaiden Clemente made a bucket from in tight to put Suffern ahead 4-3. That lead lasted for just 21 seconds, and the Garnets never trailed again.
Senior Henry Shoemaker found his rhythm around the rim, scoring a game-high 19 points. Junior point guard Ben Hudson (14) heated up from three, and senior captain Carson Miller (13) began to do what he’s done all year: knock down huge shots. At the end of the first quarter, Rye had the tournament favorites on their heels, taking a 21-6 lead.
“We shot the ball really well in that first half,” Miller said. “I’m not sure we planned to be that good from beyond the arc, but we were pretty confident we could play with these guys coming in here tonight.”
The second quarter was the turning point in the game. The reigning Rockland County player of the year, Suffern senior Jake Pampolina, matched Shoemaker’s 19 points, but facing Rye’s man-to-man defense was like a speed-dating nightmare.
“We’d like you to meet Carson Miller, he’ll be in your kitchen for most of the night. And this is senior Sebastian Lewis, you’re not going to care for him much. When he’s done, make sure you say hello to junior Luke Scully – pretty athletic young fella. And don’t forget junior Ryan Hess – you’re right, he’s just as quick as you. Oh, and he can shoot the three.”
Rye junior Cal Wing, showing no visible County Center stress, stepped into back-to-back 3-point shots to put Rye up by 20 with 2:30 to go in the half. And with Shoemaker and Miller resting on the bench for the final two minutes of the first half, junior Gavin McKiernan filled in, took a hard foul, made the bucket and the free throw. The entire Rye bench was on its feet, with a 37-21 halftime lead.
In the second half, the supremely talented Pampolina converted on multiple scoring chances for the Mounties. Without question, he’s one of the strongest, most creative basketball players in all of Section 1. But Pampolina’s points really never hurt Rye the way they did when these teams met six weeks ago.
Rye responded with more defensive pressure and several huge rebounds. The Garnets protected the ball in the second half better than they had all season, and came through with some steady free-throw shooting at just the right time down the stretch.
In what’s becoming a familiar postseason recipe, the Garnets had built themselves such a sizable lead, there just wasn’t enough time left for Suffern to get enough touches to catch up.
“Defense is the staple of our team,” Miller said. “Coach harps on that topic every single day in practice. In a big game like this, it’s such a good feeling to get a steal from some solid defense. Then, we get a layup or a three in transition. When our defense is locked in like it was tonight, it somehow feels easy.”
