Over the last several years, the girls’ basketball squads from Harrison and Eastchester have waged a fierce rivalry on the court, with no shortage of playoff thrillers and physical league contests to add fuel to the fire. But on Feb. 6, Harrison may have gotten the last laugh—at least for this year—as they erased an early-season loss to the Eagles, topping Eastchester 68-41 at home.
The win was uncharacteristically one-sided, considering the last time the two foes met on Jan. 19, it was Eastchester who escaped with a 47-44 win. Harrison guard Avery LaBarbera, who led all scorers with 22 points, said gaining some measure of revenge made Tuesday’s win even more special.
“Two years ago they knocked us off in the playoffs, they knocked us off last year to win the league,” LaBarbera said. “But this feels great, especially on senior night, to be able to beat them.”
Harrison controlled the game from the outset, beginning the game on a 10-2 run and eventually building a 31-18 lead by the end of the first half. Late in the second quarter, the already short-handed Eagles were dealt another severe blow as senior forward Fiona Teahan was injured in a scrum for a loose ball and declared out for the rest of the game. The Eagles played the remainder of the game with just three reserve players and couldn’t muster a comeback against the surging Huskies.
“Going into halftime, that’s when we thought we had it,” LaBarbera said. “But in the locker room we were just saying that we had to play strong, we had to finish, because we know they could come out and do the same thing to us.”
“You never know what’s going to happen so we just had to come out and play strong,” added fellow senior Gina Nuvoloni. “We played our game and we knew we could win.”
Harrison’s Ashley Stagg contributed 12 of her 20 points in the second half and Victoria Lendino chipped in eight of her 12 points after the break as well. Eastchester was led by a 17-point performance from Cassidy Mitchell.
With the loss, the Eagles—who have battled injuries all season—dropped to 7-12 on the year, while Harrison improved to 12-6. The Huskies will look to lock up a league title in their final two games of the campaign as they get set to take on Byram Hills and Ardsley later this week.
“This win meant the world, and getting that last win at home gives us great momentum,” LaBarbera said. “Now we’ve got Byram and a tough Ardsley team coming up, we’ve got a chance to win the league, and right now, that’s our goal.”
