Harvey School's Girls Hoops Team Defeats Christian Heritage

By Chris Del Campo

Strong Second Half Propels Harvey Girls to Victory

Harvey’s girls varsity basketball team defeated Christian Heritage School 47-30 Monday in an impressive road win in Trumbull, Connecticut.

Harvey, playing with a full bench for the first time this season, battled Christian Heritage for the lead in the first half as the home team held a 12-7 advantage before the Lady Cavs started clicking on offense with an 11-3 run. Jaeden McKenzie sank a 3-pointer with an assist from Julia Frisch, to bring Harvey within two to tie. Taylor Williams knotted the game at 12-12 when she sank two free throws. When the Lady Cavs scored six more points, they were up 18-15 at halftime.

The second half was close before Harvey jumped ahead on 3-pointers from Julia Mallon, Jaeden McKenzie and Tessa Knorr.

Mallon, a Katonah resident, had a game high 16. McKenzie tallied 10 points and Knorr finished with six. Julia Frisch also chipped in six points and had four assists. Safia Gecaj, in her second game of the season coming off an injury, played well, collecting five tough rebounds and blocking a shot.

Coach Samantha Saraniti was impressed with her team’s performance.

“Once our girls took the lead in the second half, there was no stopping them. Hopefully this confidence will carry over to our next game.”

The Lady Cavs host The Master’s School Wednesday.

Harvey Boys Lose Another Close One

Harvey’s boys varsity basketball team dropped its third straight game Friday, Dec. 11, losing to league opponent Wooster 54-50.

Each of Harvey’s first three games has been a close contest in which the Cavaliers have cut the lead to at least two or even have tied the game, which they did against Wooster with under a minute to play.

Wooster opened up the game with a 17-10 lead after some sloppy play from Harvey, who committed 18 turnovers in the game and shot a dismal 13 for 28 from the foul line.

The game was tight throughout, but Harvey was just not able to take command and grab a lead. For Wooster, Alexander Foote of Bedford Hills was dominant on offense, scoring a game high 35 points. Although pressured most of the game by Jovell Forsythe, Foote managed to score from the outside and by getting himself to the foul line where he was 14 for 18.

Harvey made a run late in the game and tied the score at 50 after a steal and a layup from DePass. With less than 20 seconds left, Forsythe fouled Foote who went to the line and sank both shots to give Wooster a 2-point lead.

When DePass took the ball down and drove to the hoop, he was called for charge with under 10 seconds left, giving the ball back to Wooster who went on to win the game.

Harvey junior Rohan Harrison had a team high 16 points, but foul trouble kept him on the bench for some important second half minutes. Mike DePass, who finished with 10 points, also missed time in the second half due to foul trouble. Zaire Elleby chipped in 10 points.

Harvey is now 0-3 on the year and 0-2 in the league. Although, this is not the start that first year coach Denis Arnautovic expected, he remains confident.

“We are losing some close games, against some good opponents and not playing close to our potential. We are getting there as a team, and we will continue to work hard and I’m confident that we will turn this around shortly.”

Harvey will host both King and Master’s this week.

Harvey Hockey Crushes Fieldston

Skating in the friendly confines in Evarts Rink on their home ice for the first time this season, Harvey’s varsity hockey team faced off against The Fieldston School Friday, Dec. 11 in a critical FAA league and emerged with an impressive 14-5 victory.

The Cavs jumped out quickly, scoring three goals in the first eight minutes of the game. They exchanged goals with Fieldston before the end of the period, taking a 4-1 lead before the end of the first period.

Second period saw another quick start from Harvey. The Cavaliers tallied three goals before the five minute mark to give them a 7-1 lead with 10 minutes to play. Fieldston began to play physical hockey, taking major penalties throughout the rest of the game. Harvey used this to its advantage and continued to punish the Falcons on the scoreboard.

The Cavaliers were led offensively by Waccabuc’s Theodore Rattner who ended the game with four goals and four assists. Senior captain Drew Homola notched four goals and three assists, while captain Tyler Levy added a hat trick of his own. Junior Musa Ibrahim, sophomore Alex McLean and eighth grader Harley Cohen of Pound Ridge each scored a goal. Freshman Ryan Goodliffe earned his second straight victory in goal for the Cavs, stopping 20 shots on goal.

Harvey is 2-2 this season.

JV-B Comeback Bid Comes Up Short

Harvey’s JV-B boys basketball team battled back Thursday, Dec. 10, from a 13-point deficit to come within one point of tying the game late in the second half, but Soundview went on a 13-2 run to secure a 47-35 victory.

The first half was competitive in a back and forth battle as Soundview’s defense forced a few turnovers that led to easy layups. Harvey kept it close and trailed 18-15 at halftime. Harvey’s Sam Roschelle had six points in the first half, connecting on two of four shots from 3-point range.

Soundview opened the second half by scoring 10 unanswered points and led 28-15 early. With great play by Harvey’s Dylan Zink and Hunter Nascimento down low and with a momentum- shifting 3-pointer by Ethan Frey, the junior Cavs went on an 18-6 run and only trailed 34-33 with five minutes left. But the momentum shifted back to the visiting Bulldogs as they ended the game outscoring Harvey by 11 in the final minutes.

Soundview’s 13-18 shooting from the foul line helped seal the win.

Dylan Zink, who led Harvey in scoring with 10 points, also was strong under the boards in grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds. Hunter Nascimento had eight points and 10 rebounds while Aiden Roberts finished with seven rebounds.

The JV-B is now 1-2 on the season.

Girls JV Drop a Pair; Lose in Overtime

Harvey’s JV girls basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 20-19 loss to Forman Wednesday, Dec. 9. Harvey came all the way back to tie the game in regulation play, but lost in overtime when Forman sank a 3-pointer after the Lady Cavs had gone up by two on a Leah Wang’s timely layup.

It was a game of two halves as Forman dominated the first half, scoring all of its points in regulation time. Excellent defense completely shut Forman down on offense in the second half as Harvey controlled the game and fought back to tie it before time expired.

It looked like Harvey would pull out the win in overtime when Wang made the layup, but Forman’s 3-pointer with less than a minute to play in OT ended the Lady Cavs’ hopes of a comeback victory.

“Our girls battled on defense focusing on their goal of more talking and better communication on the court,” said coach Christina Binns. “I was really proud of their performance and glad that we accomplished the two goals we set for ourselves,” she added.

In their first game of the season, Tuesday, Dec. 8, the JV girls lost 36-23 to Sacred Heart.

Photo: Katonah’s Julia Mallon was high scorer with 16 points in Harvey’s win against Christian Heritage Monday, Dec. 14. Photo credit: Contributed