Horsemen Trounce Iona Prep

The Sleepy Hollow boys' varsity basketball team trounced Iona Prep's varsity B-team on Tuesday, 67-35.

The game was part of the 13th annual George Budries Basketball Tournament hosted by Yorktown High School.

The win netted the Headless Horsemen third place in the tournament, behind Horace Greeley High School and Yorktown High School.

"Sometimes it's a challenge when you know you are playing in a third place game in a tournament," said head coach Tony Baxter. "From the start we gave energy and effort. We played a good level of competition and that will help us down the road."

The first half was dominated by the Headless Horesemen who piled on 30 points to Iona Prep's 11; Joseph Scarpati and Justin Best netted eight points each before the half. The Horsemen also benefited from ten Iona fouls in the first 16 minutes of play, and numerous loose balls.

"There were a lot of hustle points, getting the ball on the floor and getting the rebounds," senior Joseph Scarpati said.

Iona tried to muster an offensive counter-attack in the second half that largely consisted of substituting players, and sometimes the entire team, at every available  opportunity.

While Iona managed to tack on an additional 24 points in the last two periods, solid Horsemen defense kept the Iona Gaels from closing the gap.

"The pressure we gave them made them have turnovers, and they made mistakes, and that came from our defense," Best said. "We came out with energy and effort and executed our plays and did what we needed to do."

In the end, Best finished with 17 points; Scarpati, 10 points; Tylin Mayes, 10 points; and Jonathan Martin, 10 points.

After the game, Best was honored with an All Tournament Team trophy by the Yorktown High School athletic director.

"It feels good [to get the award], but I would rather get the first-place trophy," Best said. "My team really helped me out and made sure I got the ball in the right spots."

The Horsemen now set their sights on continuing their impressive 6-1 record during regular season play next week.

"We've had a successful first half of the season, the second part is the real test," Scarpati said. "We start league games after New Year's."

League play begins with a matchup against Hastings High School next Tuesday, 6:15 p.m. at Sleepy Hollow High School.

"When we come back next week it will basically be all league games for the rest of the season," Baxter said. "It will be a great environment; every game will be a battle."

The Headless Horsemen take on Hastings High School next Tuesday, 6:15 p.m. at Sleepy Hollow High School.