Harvey Comes Close to Tourney Upset

 

The Harvey School’s varsity boys basketball team nearly pulled off an upset Saturday in the consolation game of the Tappan Zee Holiday Tournament in Orangeburg. The small school Cavaliers held a lead over division AA school Clarkstown North through most of the game until late into the fourth quarter when the Rams sank a string of consecutive free-throws and went ahead to stay for a 61-49 victory.

The Cavaliers knew going into the game that they had a big task ahead of them, playing a school with an enrollment of over 1,500 students. The game plan for Harvey was simple: get hot early, shoot often and battle for rebounds against the much larger team in Clarkstown North.

Harvey dominated play in the opening minutes of the game. Senior guard Ricky Hicks scored the first seven points for the Cavaliers as they took a quick 7-1 lead and had a five-point lead going into the second quarter. The scoring didn’t stop for Harvey. The Cavaliers began the second quarter on a 6-0 run, putting Clarkstown North on their heels and forcing them to call a timeout. The game of runs continued and C. North cut the Harvey lead to one. The battle under the boards went to the much smaller Cavaliers 17-13, who did a great job boxing out, and fighting for loose balls. The game remained tight but Harvey went into halftime with a 26-24 point lead.

Harvey opened up the third quarter red-hot, going on another 6-0 run to extend the lead to nine. Harvey was playing great on both sides of the ball and went into the fourth quarter with a five-point lead and eight minutes away from a huge upset.

Clarkstown North battled back in the fourth quarter and went on a run. They had two big “and-one” plays and took the lead 39-38 two minutes into the final quarter. Hicks then hit a deep 3-pointer to regain the lead, but Clarkstown North came right back with a 3-pointer of their own. The Rams didn't hold the lead for long as the next trip down the floor, junior Rohan Cassels put Harvey back on top with another 3-pointer. The game went back and forth and the excitement on Harvey’s side could be felt throughout the gym. The game was tied at 49 with two and a half minutes remaining.

After a timeout Clarkstown North took the lead and put tight ball pressure on the Cavaliers, causing them to start turning the ball over. North went on a late 7-0 run and took a lead, prompting Harvey to begin fouling to put the Rams at the line. North made their free-throws down the end and ended up winning by 11 points. Hicks led all scorers with 24 points. Oliver Levy had 23 for the Rams.

Harvey's coach Dom Narcisco was proud of his team’s performance. “They worked so hard and put it all on the line, putting a real good class AA team on their heels. There is no doubt that we learned a lot about our team in this tournament. We can compete with the best of them and are better prepared for everyone in our own league.”

In Friday’s tournament tipoff, Harvey lost 67-56 to Briarcliff High School. Hicks also led his team in scoring in that game with 15 points.

The Cavaliers will not see action again until Wednesday, Jan. 7, when they go on the road to play King School.