By Melanie Cane
The Garnets were hoping for their ninth straight win when they hosted rival Harrison on January 11. Unfortunately, due to a slow first quarter and foul trouble Rye lost to the Huskies 52-48 in an exciting, competitive, back and forth game.
The Huskies opened the game with a 3-point shot from the post and a full court press which set the tone for the first quarter. Rye’s Teaghan Flaherty and Ellie Dailey tied the game at 5, but Rye spent the rest of the quarter chasing Harrison and accumulated four team fouls. The quarter ended with Rye down 17-10.
The Garnets came out much more aggressively in the second quarter. Freshman Amanda Latkany scored on three jump shots and a foul shot. Flaherty added a few more baskets and suddenly the teams were knotted at 22. At halftime, the Huskies led 30-27.
The Garnets took their first lead in the third quarter on shots from four different players. With Rye up by three, play became frenetic. Both teams stole the ball, fouled, and ran fast breaks. Flaherty had to sit out the end of the quarter because she had four personal fouls. The Garnets outscored the Huskies 14-5 and took a 38-35 lead into the last quarter.
With Flaherty still on the bench at the start of the fourth quarter, the Huskies chipped away at Rye’s lead. Latkany, Dailey, and Margaret Mitchell all scored, but Harrison tied the game at 42 with five minutes left to play. After two answered baskets, the Huskies pulled ahead 49-46 on a jump shot and foul shot with 34 seconds left and beat Rye by four.
Flaherty scored 22. This is the sixth game in a row she has scored over 20 points. Latkany added 13.
Coach Dennis Hurlie said, “Teaghan has been our offense most of the season. It was a special lift to have Amanda contribute so much. If we can get more contributions like that from other players it will help us be a more complete offensive team and take pressure off Teaghan.”
On defense, continued Coach Hurlie, “the whole team played well in the second half and that Hannah Mullaly has been a rock all season.” He said it is hard to defend against an exceptional player like Avery LaBarbera, who scored 28 points. We got away from our game plan a bit with her. However, in the second half our focus and execution was outstanding and it allowed us to get back in the game.”
Captions:
Niamh Carter going up for a shot.
Teaghan Flaherty going around defender.
