Over the last couple of years, there have been few basketball teams within Section 1 that have been able to consistently hang with the Mamaroneck Tigers. This season—thus far, anyway—that number has dwindled to zero.
On Saturday, Jan. 4, the Tigers kept their winning ways alive on the biggest stage of all, topping a talented Rye team 68-50 at the Slam Dunk Challenge in the Westchester County Center to improve to 10-0 on the season and put the rest of the lower Hudson Valley on notice.
After a quick start by a Rye team that was active on the glass, the Tigers were able to regroup, find their shooting stroke, and finish the first half leading the Garnets by six points. The Tigers continued to pull away in the second half, led by a terrific shooting day from Elijah Friedman, who drained five three-pointers and led all scorers with 20 points en route to being named the game’s MVP.
Rocklan Boisseau led the Garnets with 18 of his own.
Friedman noted that although some find that the confines of the County Center can be detrimental to outside shooters, he was able to lock in and treat this game like any other.
“Shooting is shooting, it doesn’t matter where you are,” said Friedman. “But this is a historic place and it’s always great to be able to come out here.”
Mamaroneck coach Tyrone Carver praised Friedman for his clutch performance, noting that the veteran always finds a way to impact a game and his growth on the offensive end has made him a vital part of this year’s playoff push.
“Elijah is a worker, he’s an unbelievable kid and he struggled shooting the basketball a bit last year,” said Carver. “His confidence never wavered, it never affected the other parts of his game so to see him have a good shooting start in the first half of the season is great to see.”
Overall, said Carver, the Tigers rose to Saturday’s challenge admirably but are still looking to find ways to improve as the season continues.
“It’s an unbelievable atmosphere and we’re always excited to get the opportunity to play here,” said Carver. “I thought we played well in spurts and did a much better job defensively and with our defensive rebounding than with our shot selection.”
With the loss, Rye fell to 3-2 on the year, but found themselves back in the win column on Monday, when they beat Somers in a game that saw senior standout Jake Kessner notch his 1,000th career point.
Mamaroneck will be back in action on Jan. 11 when they travel to Ossining. They will be tested for sure next week, when they take on league foes Scarsdale (8-1) and Mount Vernon (7-2), but Friedman believes his Tigers are up for the challenge.
“Our confidence is up, our vibes are up, we’re 10-0 now and this is just another game on the schedule,” he said. “This is a historic place and we appreciate the opportunity to come here and play; we’ve been here before, we have that experience, and we’re excited to get back here at the end of the year.”
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