Good morning. 🏀🏒 It’s Friday, Feb. 27. Three of Rye’s winter sports teams are in the section tournament semifinals. At this point in the season, there are no more gimmees. (Well, maybe one more gimmee.)

The Garnet hockey team hosts Pawling tonight, a team they beat 7-1 a month ago. The victory was the first in Rye’s current six-game win streak. With another defeat of Pawling tonight, the top-seeded Garnets will play for the section championship Sunday in Brewster. The competition would jump significantly in the title game, possibly against No. 2 Pelham.

For Rye’s girls and boys basketball teams, the tough tests have already arrived. Both are headed to Westchester County Center for the second year in a row and enter Monday’s matchups as the lower-seeded teams.

Let’s look “Between the Lines” at three Garnet squads playing in their section tourneys’ final four.

“Between the Lines” is curated by Chris Marshall.

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Boys & Girls Basketball Preview: Center of Attention

Rye’s boys avenged one of their five losses this season in the section quarterfinals. They'll get a chance to do so again in Monday’s semifinals.

With a 59-55 road win at No. 4 Horace Greeley on Wednesday night, the fifth-seeded Garnets (17-5) punched a return ticket to Westchester County Center. Now, they'll play a team that beat them 52-31 on Jan. 16, top-seeded Suffern (18-2), at 8:15 p.m. Monday in White Plains.

Coach Tom Proudian will take it.

The Mounties may be the tournament favorites, but few atmospheres in the county are tougher than the one Rye just won in Wednesday. The game was tied 15-15 after one quarter in Chappaqua, and Rye led by five at halftime.

With 2:52 left in the third, Rye’s lead had swelled to 15. But with three minutes left in the game, Rye’s lead shrank to three, 53-50. And with three seconds left in regulation, Rye led by only two, 57-55.

In front of a raucous Quaker crowd, senior Henry Shoemaker sank two clutch free throws to secure the win. Junior Ben Hudson led Rye with 19 points, and senior Carson Miller added 15.

“We now know we’ve got Suffern in the next round,” Shoemaker said. “They’re a great team – and we’re a great team. I’m excited. Anything can happen in the County Center.”

If the Garnets can complete another upset, they’ll face No. 2 Yorktown or No. 3 Clarkstown North in next Saturday’s championship.

The Garnet girls (18-4), who won their first 17 games against Class AA competition this season, lost to Ossining twice to end the regular season. The teams will meet for a third time at 3 p.m. Monday, with a spot in the section championship on the line.

Unlike the first two matchups with the No. 2 Lions, third-seeded Rye will have its full complement of players in the lineup. Junior Frankie Chiaravalle scored nine points in Wednesday’s 60-42 quarterfinal win against Suffern, and senior Annie Toulouse added seven. Both players missed time recently with injuries.

After entering halftime trailing the Mounties by a point, Rye stormed out of the locker room with a 14-2 run and never looked back. Senior Phoebe Greto led all scorers with 18 points, and sophomore Stella Maresca was close behind with 16.

The Garnet core, which also includes freshman Charlotte Storz, is no stranger to surprises in the County Center. Rye knocked off a 22-1 Panas team to claim the section crown a season ago. If the Garnets return to the championship game next Saturday, the opponent may be another 22-1 team, top-seeded Nyack.

Weather Report: Check out the weekend weather forecast for Rye here.

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Performer of the Week: Henry Shoemaker

🏀 Congrats to Henry Shoemaker — winner of the Sportech Performer of the Week.

Shoemaker's game-sealing free throws Wednesday against Horace Greeley gave him 16 points for the game. But the senior forward’s contributions on the boards may have been his biggest impact.

“The kid was absolutely ferocious in the paint, such a competitor,” said coach Tom Proudian. “His rebounding and toughness were the difference in this game for us. It certainly helped that we had a 15-point lead in the second half, which was just enough, because we needed every one of those points.”

The Harvard football commit showed why he captains multiple Rye teams, helping the Garnets keep their cool in a tough road environment.

“I was telling my guys in the locker room before the game that these are the games, in gyms like this, in front of crowds like this, that we play for,” he said. “There’s no tomorrow if we don’t win, and every one of my teammates gave everything they had out there tonight.” 

— By Steven Kearney

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