The Huskies sit at 8-12 entering the playoffs, but numbers and stats could be very deceiving. This year Harrison plays one of the hardest schedules of any team, especially compared to who they played last year. Harrison plays many class AAA teams that they won’t have to face in the playoffs. They’ve played very tough opponents like Mamaroneck(18-2) , New Rochelle(17-3), and Mount Vernon(12-6). All these teams the Huskies won’t have to play in the postseason.
Harrison’s defense is what has kept them competitive this season, they only score 44.6 points per game, and only gave up around 47.5 a game. They demonstrated tough defense in losses to Mamaroneck, Poughkeepsie, and New Rochelle by giving up only 41, 44, and 48 points respectively; far below each team’s average. After talking to Head coach Chiarella, he told me how they have been so successful defensively. He said “giving teams different looks is important”. He continued to explain that switching from man to zone throughout the game can confuse an offense and make it harder to score. He also preached physical play and instilled toughness to make it very hard for an offense to score. He believes with how good the defense has been that Harrison can play with anyone and really go far in the playoffs.
I talked to senior captain Gabe Enaye, he feels the team has gone through “adversity” playing the tougher competition than usual, but feels it has “prepared them well” to play the teams in their league. He thinks the team has shown a lot of grit, “it’s been some ups and some downs but I think we’ve all stayed gritty.” Gabes expectations for the playoffs are to make the county center which would be winning at least 2 playoff games, he feels the Huskies have the perfect team to cause some upsets and mayhem.
The Huskies will travel to Suffern on the 16th to face the 15-5, 4 seed Mounties. The Huskies are big underdogs in the game but talking to coach and captain Gabe Enaye they don’t seem themselves as underdogs. Suffern is a high scoring offense averaging around 60.5 a game. This will be a big test for the Huskies defense as they have full confidence in their ability to beat anyone and they are looking to surprise many.
Update:
Harrison fought hard till the end but unfortunately came up short against Suffern eliminating them from the playoffs. As a 13 seed playing the 4 seed they were big underdogs and lost by 2 points. Their defense continued to be a strength only giving up 56 points to a higher powered offensive team. Offensively, they scored above their average by dropping 54 points compared to their average of 49 points per game. This game came down to getting stops when it mattered in the 4th quarter. With 6 minutes to go Harrison took a 49-47 lead after a full court pass and layup from Joe Crupi with Gabe Enaye making the layup. After each team got a defensive stop, there was 5 minutes left when Suffern tied it up on a tough post move. After this, there was a big scoring drought of just about 2 minutes of no points. Suffern broke this by taking a 2 point lead with 2 minutes left. Harrisons offense continued to struggle as they couldn’t find the basket. Trailing by 4 with 30 seconds left they cut it to 3 with a free throw and were forced to foul. Suffern hit their free throws down the stretch and came away with the win. This makes back to back years of the Huskies losing a close first round game. They are still in search of getting over this hump, but next year they like their chances. Harrison was in Class AA playing a tough schedule, but next year they will be going back down to Class A with less competition during the regular season and postseason giving them high hopes and expectations for next season.
