With Nyack leading Rye convincingly, 17-9 at the end of the first quarter Thursday, Garnet fans may have been wondering if this was as far as the team would go.
Could coach Tom Proudian’s boys come from behind against what looked like the quickest team they’d faced all year?
But when Rye’s All-County senior Jake Kessner drilled three 3-pointers on three straight second-quarter possessions, all from the same spot in the corner, any spectator doubts slowly turned hopeful. Behind Kessler’s 16-point first-half outburst, the Garnets did what they’ve done all season: they hung in there, eventually winning 62-46 to advance to the Section 1 Class AA semifinals.
The third-seeded Garnets (16-6) will play No. 2 Yorktown (18-4) Tuesday at Westchester County Center.
“I told them at halftime, ‘We’re going to press and switch it up to our zone defense,’” Proudian said. “Our coaching staff felt Nyack might have a tough time handling our pressure. Our kids executed well. The boys deserve all the credit for this one.”
Amid a barrage of Nyack turnovers, crisp Garnet passing, and a zone defense reminiscent of John Chaney’s Temple Owls, Rye took the lead from Nyack with 5:02 to go in the third – and never gave it back.
“Coach told us not to panic,” said senior post Patrick McGuire. “We’ve been behind before. At this stage of the season, we understand what it takes to win.”
Rye junior Henry Shoemaker showed a new wrinkle to Rye’s resiliency with two well-timed third-quarter alley-oop dunks that tested the structural integrity of the Rye High School bleachers.
Kessner finished with a game-high 25 points, and Shoemaker added a dozen. Senior Peter Boamah led the RedHawks with 13 points.
Tuesday’s semifinal will be a rematch of an early-season nailbiter. On Jan. 8, Rye lost 48-45 at Yorktown.
The winner will move on to play top-seeded Tappan Zee (20-2) or No. 4 Peekskill (16-6) in the Sectional championship March 8. Rye beat Tappan Zee 47-38 in the regular-season finale, part of the team’s current five-game win streak.
