A spirited run by Mamaroneck fell just short on Feb. 18, as the No. 14-seeded Tigers nearly overcame a second-half deficit to upset No. 3-seed Scarsdale in the first round of the Class AA playoffs. Despite climbing out of a 13-point hole to take their first lead of the game with 4:08 left in regulation, the Tigers were unable to hold on, dropping the postseason opener to their league rivals, 61-58.
Despite the loss, Mamaroneck head coach Ty Carver was pleased with the way his team came out against the highly ranked Raiders, especially in the 17-3 run they went on to start the fourth quarter to take a 48-47 lead.
“I’m extremely proud of this team, in the way they played with effort, pride and desire over the course of 32 minutes,” Carver said. “Unfortunately, [Scarsdale] just made one or two more plays than us down the stretch.”
The Tigers fourth-quarter spurt was sparked by senior Will Tuck, who scored a game-high 27 points and sophomore Tommy Martin who had 12 points and collected eight rebounds on the day.
“[Martin and Tuck] were great,” Carver said. “And you could especially see it in the way that [Tuck] had been practicing the two days before it, I’m really proud of those guys.”
Although the Tigers were unable to put the Raiders away, Carver said that the challenge of playing playoff basketball against a league rival in a packed gym is something that should serve his returning players well.
“For our first-year players, it was a great experience to see the way they played in an environment like that,” he said. “For some of the second year players, I think that this game will help them understand what kind of mentality they need to have going forward.”
The biggest takeaway from the season, Carver added, is that his players will need to approach each game with the same determination and intensity that they had against the Raiders.
“I want these guys to give a consistent effort; 32 minutes a game for 20 games,” he said. “If we brought it every game during the regular season, we could have been better than a No. 14 seed and would have had a better opportunity to reach our goals.”
After the game, however, Carver said he just wanted his players to focus on the positives.
“I told them how proud I was to be their coach,” he said. “They competed, they gave it their all, they stuck together and they never gave up.”
