Harrison had little trouble in its first-round playoff game on Saturday afternoon, but for the top-seeded Huskies, the postseason was always about the finish. Taking on Nyack on Feb. 18, Harrison jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, running away with a 65-41 win that was never as close as the final score indicated.
The Huskies rode a complete team effort to the win, led by a 16-point day from Blayse Jennings, in a day that saw eight different Harrison players notch points for the ballclub. Mia Strazza (13 points) and Stella Perini (11) also reached double digits while Olivia Greco drained three three-pointers to finish with nine points on the day.
By halftime, the Huskies were firmly in control, leading Nyack 44-14, something Harrison coach Louis Kail attributes to the fact that his junior-heavy team is quite used to postseason competition at this point.
In years past, I’ve tried to control the narrative,” he said. “But I think at this point, this is a junior-led team and they’re going to run with it, and they’re going to take us as far as we can go.”
It’s no surprise that expectations are high for the team this year. Harrison finished the regular season with a 16-4 record and has been on fire down the stretch, winning eight of its last nine games. Harrison’s lone loss in that time frame came to No. 6 Walter Panas.
Up next for the Huskies in a quarterfinal round game against No. 9 Hendrick Hudson, which will be played on Feb. 23, after press time. Hen Hud advanced with a 52-37 first-round win over Pelham on Feb. 18. If the Huskies are able to earn a victory over the Sailors, they will advance to the Class A semifinals at the Westchester County Center on March 1 against either Tappan Zee or Rye.
With roughly a week’s layoff between games, Kail said he’s going to need to find ways to keep his team focused on their next challenge.
“We’re going to have to practice hard and get ourselves ready,” said Kail. “And if the opportunity comes up where maybe we can scrimmage against a Class AA team, we can look at that as a possibility.”
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