Good morning. 🏀 It’s Friday, March 6. Sometimes, it feels a little unfair that only one representative from Section 1 gets to move on to the state tournament. The four counties that make up the section — Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, and Dutchess — typically produce several of the state’s most competitive teams.

In football, Rye and Somers would likely face each other in state championship games quite regularly if such a thing were possible. In boys basketball, the No. 1 Suffern team Rye eliminated in Monday’s section semifinals might have been the favorite if it had played its way into the Class AA state bracket.

Alas, New York’s postseason format only allows one team per section to advance … except for a few rare exceptions, like this season’s state hockey tournament. Rye lost to Byram Hills in overtime of Monday’s Section 1 championship, but both teams will skate on in Saturday’s state tournament quarterfinals.

Rye and Byram Hills are now just two wins away from reaching the state championship, where we could see an all-Section 1 rematch. But with just eight teams remaining, nothing will come easy.

Let’s look “Between the Lines” at the Garnets’ remaining state title contenders.

“Between the Lines” is curated by Chris Marshall.

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Section Championship Preview: Second Chances

Last year, Rye’s boys came within a game of a state tournament bid before falling to top-seeded Tappan Zee in the section championship at Westchester County Center.

This year, Rye has already removed the No. 1 seed from its path, eliminating Suffern in a 60-49 semifinal win Monday. The Garnets lost to the Mounties by 21 in the regular season. Now, they’ll face a team they beat by 21.

In the penultimate game of the regular season, Rye won at Clarkstown North 69-48, snapping the Rams’ 15-game win streak and handing them their only loss since Dec. 23. The teams will face off once again at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the County Center.

For the third-straight game, No. 5 Rye enters as the lower-seeded team, after ousting No. 4 Horace Greeley and No. 1 Suffern. But against the Mounties, coach Tom Proudian’s Garnets didn’t look like the underdogs. Suffern went ahead 4-3 early in Monday’s game and held the lead for just 21 seconds before Rye pulled away.

“We played tremendous defense in the first half and backed it up with some terrific outside shooting,” Proudian said. “These boys did this tonight. They did it.”

Senior Henry Shoemaker scored a game-high 19 points, junior point guard Ben Hudson (14) heated up from three, and senior Carson Miller (13) knocked down several huge shots. At the end of the first quarter, Rye already had the tournament favorites on their heels, taking a 21-6 lead.

“We shot the ball really well in that first half,” Miller said. “I’m not sure we planned to be that good from beyond the arc, but we were pretty confident we could play with these guys coming in here tonight.”

The winner of Saturday’s Rye-Clarkstown North rematch will be one of 10 teams in the Class AA state tournament, with a first-round game set for 7 p.m. Tuesday in Yorktown.

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Performers of the Week: Jack Anderson & Jason Gaylord

🤼‍♂️ Congrats to Jack Anderson and Jason Gaylord — winners of the Sportech Performer of the Week.

The two Rye seniors won matches in the New York state wrestling championships last Friday in Albany before losing in the round of 16. Anderson and Gaylord, who both finished as the Section 1 runner-up in their respective weight classes, pinned opponents in the state tournament’s round of 32.

In the 215-pound weight class, the 14th-seeded Anderson (39-5) pinned North Towanda junior Jon Landen in 4:18. In the 165-pound weight class, the 15th-seeded Gaylord (36-9) pinned Kingston senior Colton Parese in 4:26.

The senior duo qualified for state after strong showings at the Section 1 championships in the County Center. Anderson went 6-1, and Gaylord 5-1, to earn second place.

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Game of the Week: Hockey Loss Has Silver Lining

🏒 You know it’s a good section championship game when both teams follow it up with a trip to state.

With a 3-2 overtime victory Sunday, Byram Hills denied the Garnets a repeat section title, which would have been the 16th in school history. The teams were tied 0-0 after one period and 2-2 after three before the Bobcats scored the game-winner.

A section tournament loss is usually the end of the road. Not so for the Garnets, who play Saturday afternoon at Aquinas Institute (14-4-2). The Little Irish won 4-2 Monday against a Webster Schroeder team that entered the Section 5 championship game with a 20-0 record.

Rye (15-2-3) and Byram Hills (12-5-1) are on opposite sides of the eight-team Division 2 state bracket. If the Section 1 opponents meet again, it could take just one bounce of the puck for the outcome to flip in Rye’s favor.

This Week’s Rye Record: 2-2

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