Sports Recap: Townsend And Quakers Ready For Sectionals

Here is a recap of some recent notable events in Fox Lane and Horace Greeley sports, not including games previously covered by Patch:

Rye game emotional for Townsend

When Horace Greeley senior and McDonald’s All-American nominee Matt Townsend played his final regular-season home game as a Quaker against Rye on Feb. 11, it hit him in the heart.

“It was definitely a significant moment for me playing for four years and now it’s kind of coming to an end now,” Townsend said. “It was definitely a special night.”

It was a night made more special when the Quakers were able to pull out a 63-56 triumph against Rye. The key quarter in the game for Greeley was the third quarter.

Greeley led 30-26 at halftime going into a third stanza that saw the host out score the Garnets 22-10, enabling the Quakers to lead 52-36 at the end of the third quarter. Townsend, who scored a game-high 23 points against the Garnets, explained how his squad was able to break away from the visitors.

“We really picked up our defense, we limited the amount of quality shots they got,” Townsend said. “It was just a really great team win for us. A lot of the guys stepped up. Harrison Brown was great, on rebounding, then put backs and finishing inside.”

For the game, Brown registered 13 points against Rye.

The win against Rye was part of a week that saw the Quakers win three of their four games to finish the regular season at 15-3. Now the next step for Greeley is the Section 1 Class AA tournament.

With such a gaudy record, the Quakers should get a high seed. How high a seed won’t be known for sure however until the seed meeting which is Wednesday, Feb. 16.

The sectional out-bracket games are scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 17. In all likely hood, Greeley will start what it hopes is a long postseason run on Friday, Feb. 18 in the opening round at home.

What will help the Quakers is the return of point guard Justin Ciero from an injury he suffered during football season. He saw his first hoop action of the season at Port Chester on Feb. 10.

Against Rye, he came off the bench and provided a spark to the team, according to Townsend.

“Coach (Dave Fernandes) did that to give us a little boost of intensity and energy off the bench,” Townsend said.

Townsend said that the return of Ciero to the lineup will make a big difference to the Quakers.

“He’s a co-captain along with me,” Townsend said. “You really miss the leadership he brings from the guard position. A lot of the guys look up to him. It makes a big difference having him on the court instead of the sideline.”

While the return of Ciero will be a boost, Townsend said one of thing that he and his teammates must maintain is their intensity throughout each postseason game.

“There have been some games this regular season where we have dug a hole and we need to dig ourselves out for the win,” Townsend said. “Starting out the game strong, make the other teams take shots they don’t really want to take and create good shots for ourselves are what we are going to have to do if we want to be successful in the postseason.”

If the Quakers can do those things and fall into the right bracket, they have a great chance of reaching the Section 1 Class AA Final Four and playing at the Westchester County Center in White Plains for the Gold Ball.

“That’s huge for us,” Townsend said. “Greeley has never been known as  a basketball powerhouse like Mount Vernon and New Rochelle and schools like that right down the road from each other, but it would be big for our program and our team.”

Foxes fall to John Jay

Fox Lane (12-4-1) lost to John Jay 13-6 on Feb. 10 at the Brewster Ice Arena in the John McLaughlin Memorial Game. The contest was named after Fox Lane's first-ever hockey coach.

Joe Corsi led the Foxes with two goals.

Fox Lane beats Lakeland

Led by 18 points each from Oliver Silzer and Matt Swensen, Fox Lane (11-6) defeating visiting Lakeland in boys basketball 57-43 on Feb. 10.