Bittersweet End for Sleepy Hollow's Horsemen

It was a sweet season that ended too soon.

Yesterday, the Sleepy Hollow boys varsity basketball team lost in the first round of the Section 1 Class A playoffs against Rye, 39-54.

Players were visibly emotional after the game, having gone through such a turn around from last year's two-win season.

"Coming from last year and two years ago, we barely had six wins," senior Bobby Small said. "I'm not mad, it's a big accomplishment. It was a good journey but it ended short."

Hollow ended the season 14-5 after securing second seed in the playoffs. The Horsemen had a good chance at beating a Rye team that was coming off a tough victory against Our Lady of Lourdes on Thursday, but even home court advantage couldn't give the boys an edge over the solid 2-3 zone defense and the aggressive rebounding of the Rye Garnets.

"The were physically bigger than we were," Head Coach Tony Baxter said. "And we didn't make shots today and we were a little tentative offensively."

The Rye defense kept the Horsemen out of the key and forced them to make outside shots that failed to hit home on numerous occasions.

Rye also capitalized on steals and rebounds, making quick turnarounds and drawing fouls that they were able to covert into points.

The first quarter saw a tough defensive stand on both sides and ended with Sleepy Hollow behind 8-11.

In the second quarter, senior Chris Fahey tied the game at 17 with his first of three successful 3-point shots.

"I was nervous at first, but then I started feeling it warming up," he said.

However, it was the closet Hollow would come in the game to holding Rye within striking distance.

At the half, the team was down 19-22. After the break, Rye went on a three-score drive that ended with a contested 3-point shot to put them up 19-27.

The third quarter ended with the Horsemen down 26-37. They were still unable to break past the Rye defenders for inside shots and by the middle of the fourth quarter it became obvious that Hollow couldn't mount a comeback.

Rye's Brian Pickup led the game in scoring with 17 point. Justin Best led in scoring for the Horsemen with 14 points, followed by Fahey (9) and Jorge Beranguer (7).

"It was a hard fought game but they came out in the end, and overall we just had a bad game," Small said.

While it was a difficult way to end the season, many of the players focused on the impressive run they made this year.

"I'm not surprised we did how we did this season," Fahey said. "We had the talent and I think we surprised a lot of other people this year."

Baxter said that while emotions were high right now, the players would soon realize the valuable impact they made on the Sleepy Hollow basketball program.

"I told them they will forever be known as the group that turned it around," he said. "And they have a lot to be proud of... they'll come to understand that."