On Saturday, Dec. 26, a Harrison program on the rise got a chance to test its mettle at the annual Slam Dunk Challenge at the Westchester County Center against a good Irvington team. Even though the Huskies were unable to come away with the win, falling 57-55 to the reigning Class B champs, head coach Louis Kail felt that the team’s performance bodes well for the rest of the season.
According to the fourth-year head coach, Harrison entered the season eying a trip to the Class A semifinals, which are played every year at the County Center, and last Saturday’s tilt with the Bulldogs should help stoke the team’s competitive fire.
“Ever since I took over, we’ve talked a lot about getting to the County Center in the section tournament,” Kail said. “And to get an invite to the Slam Dunk [tournament], we didn’t come up with a win, but I think it was a priceless experience for the girls.”
After a strong performance in the first quarter, Irvington surged in the second to head into the half with a 38-28 lead. The Bulldogs led by as many as 13 points after the break, before Harrison came storming back to take the lead, thanks in part to a 13-point explosion by Gia Mancini in the third quarter.
Mancini finished with 23 points on the afternoon, while teammate Avery LaBarbera netted 20 points and picked up seven steals in the loss.
“I don’t like to talk about moral victories, but against an unbelievable Irvington team, we showed a lot of resilience,” the head coach said. “You know a team like Irvington, with a coach like Gina Maher, is going make a run and we did an unbelievable job to stay with them.”
Although the Huskies ultimately fell short, Kail was impressed with the way his team performed, especially given that it was without the services of senior captain Jess Scazzero who is sidelined with an ankle injury. In her place, sophomore Gina Nuvoloni got the start for Harrison and scored 11 points while providing toughness on the defensive end.
“We went with a younger lineup [because of the injury] with Gina who only has about five games of experience,” Kail said. “But Gina [is] going to continue to learn and grow, and when Jess comes back, she is going to have a lot more experience under her belt.”
Harrison’s schedule does not get any easier when the team comes back after the new year, as the Huskies will travel to North Rockland to take on the Class AA Red Raiders on Jan. 6 and follow that contest with a showdown against a tough league foe in Rye on Jan. 12.
“We’re really getting into it now, and our last four games were a big test for us,” Kail said. “We’ve learned a lot from our losses and we’re ready to get into the midst of our schedule.”
