Harrison may have come into its Feb. 14 Class A outbracket game without its top scorer, but you wouldn’t have known it from the offensive performance the Huskies put on. Led by Alex Siapanides’s 31-point outburst, No. 15-seed Huskies found the net early and often in their playoff opener, topping No. 18 Lincoln 74-61.
It was apparent from the get-go that Siapanides had the hot hand on Wednesday, as the junior sank the first of his game-high six three-pointers just moments in. Siapanides’ stellar shooting set the tone for the Huskies, who converted 10 chances from behind the arc on the night.
“I hit the first couple of shots, and I was feeling good,” Siapanides said. “It definitely helped me play with a little more confidence.”
“When the first shot is from 30 feet and it goes swish, you know it’s going to be a pretty good night,” Huskies’ coach Gary Chiarella added.
Siapanides’ performance was especially important for Harrison, which came into Wednesday’s contest without point guard Luke McCarthy in the lineup. McCarthy, who was recently diagnosed with mononucleosis, was the Huskies’ top scorer during the regular season, but will likely miss the remainder of the year as he recovers from the illness.
“We asked everyone to do one more good thing than they usually do to try to make up for Luke,” Chiarella said, “even though it’s kind of impossible to make up for what he does for us.”
But the Huskies answered the call, as strong showings by Siapanides and Tyler Menniti (17 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists) helped the home team build a 41-31 lead by halftime and stave off a number of Lincoln runs late in the game.
“We played Lincoln early in the season and it was nip-and-tuck the whole way,” the coach said. “But the kids decided they were going to pick Luke up and they showed a lot of heart tonight.”
With the win, the Huskies earned the chance to take on No. 2 seed Walter Panas on Feb. 16 in the first round of the Class A playoffs. Led by senior point guard Brandon Hodge, the Panthers put together a 16-4 record, and should prove a stiff test for an upstart Harrison team.
“Defensively, we can play and our goal is to hold them to around 50 points,” Chiarella said. “That was obviously our goal tonight too, but we shot well, so I’m not going to complain.”
