Victories haven’t been easy to come by for Mamaroneck’s basketball team this year, but, easy or not, they’ve been coming nonetheless. On Dec. 9, the Tigers picked up their second-straight victory of the season, outlasting Suffern in a 58-50 tilt. Of the Tigers’ three wins this year, the game against Suffern was the only contest not to be decided in overtime—although a late run by the Mounties did make things interesting for a time.
Mamaroneck built up an eight-point lead by halftime, but Suffern turned the tide in the third quarter, cutting the Tiger lead to just three points. According to Mamaroneck coach Ty Carver, the Tigers have struggled somewhat in the second half this year, and their showing against Suffern was no exception.
“We’ve got to give them credit for the way they came out in the second half; they had a little more fire than we did,” he said. “But that has been the second game in a row now where we’ve had a pretty lethargic third quarter, and that’s a point of emphasis that we’re going to need to correct or else we’re going to be in trouble.”
Luckily for the Tigers, Mamaroneck was able to roar back to life late, thanks in part to a tremendous effort by forward Will Tuck, who scored 11 of his team-high 15 points in the second half, including converting on a 3-point play late in the fourth quarter that effectively put the game out of reach.
“I just think Will refused to lose, he’s played well in our first two games and he’s been a leader for us,” Carver said. “He just had that mentality where he wasn’t going to let us lose tonight.”
The win came on the heels of Mamaroneck’s Dec. 7 season-opening double overtime win against Ramapo in which Tuck tallied 31 points and six rebounds. On Dec. 10, at the Harry Jefferson Showcase at White Plains High School, the Tigers came away with another overtime win, riding 19 points from Tuck to top Tuckahoe 55-52.
These early tests have been important for Mamaroneck, Carver said, especially given the relative youth of his team.
“To be honest with you, I actually love it,” he said. “We have a bunch of inexperienced guys, so to have these guys get that experience of playing in close games and to be able to get victories through it, it’s definitely a good process.”
The Tigers will be on the road on Dec. 15, after press time, when they travel to East Fishkill to take on John Jay before hosting Sleepy Hollow next week.
