Huskies Route Panthers 79-46

After handling the opening tip-off without much of a problem, one quick pass was all it took and Harrison guard Matt Pipitone had a clear path to the basket.  After an easy layup, the Huskies took a 2-0 lead over the Rye Neck Panthers in less than five seconds and never looked back.  Harrison won the Monday night game 79-46.

Harrison played the Panthers last year and knew they had a lot of guys coming back, said Harrison Senior Dennis Rinaldi.  So the Huskies prepared to get off to a good start. By using great ball movement on offense and strong pressure on defense, they built a 20-9 lead after the first quarter. 

Rye Neck's size was essentially taken out of the game as they were limited to mostly shots outside of the paint.  The Panthers scored almost all of their first quarter points by cleaning up offensive rebounds.

"Our strategy was to double down on Dennis Rinaldi when he had the ball in the post," said Panthers coach John Aguilar. " He did a nice job of passing out of the double team."

Harrison started the second quarter on a 9-0 run, essentially putting the game out of reach.  Rye Neck, who only had eight players, appeared worn down by the aggressive Harrison attack.

"Our game plan was to pound the ball inside on offense, but that quickly became difficult to do as our two biggest players each had two fouls in the 1st quarter," said Aguilar. 

Rye Neck also found itself in foul trouble early in the second quarter, at one point the Panthers had nearly as many fouls as it did points; a major concern when substitute players are limited.

"We settled down and worked the ball inside effectively after the 1st quarter and drew many fouls," said Aguilar. "However, we did not take advantage of these opportunities as we shot 5 - 22 from the foul line for the game."

Although Rye Neck was able to gain a bit of momentum before halftime, forcing the Huskies into some difficult shots after the 1st quarter, they were never able to get things going on the offensive side.  By halftime the score was 34-19.

Both teams improved offensively in the second half.  Ryan Pennel led the Rye Neck offense with a team high 16 points, and Brendan Crowley added another seven, but the Panthers were never able to gain enough momentum to climb back into the game.

Rinaldi finished the game with 16 points and 10 rebounds for Harrison.  Steven Ricciardi added 11 points. 

"We are playing schools much bigger than ours, so we just have to keep battling and working hard to try and get enough wins to qualify for the playoffs," said Aguilar. "If we do, hopefully the ball will bounce our way and we can pull an upset in the 1st round."

The Panthers will be playing Greenburgh Academy next Monday at the Rye Neck High School gym at 4 p.m.