All season long, the Harrison Huskies have thought of themselves as a team that knows how to close out games. And on Feb. 18, in their playoff opener against No. 9-seeded Pearl River, the No. 8 seed Huskies needed every ounce of their experience in close contests to fend off a spirited charge from the Pirates and overcome a halftime deficit to escape with a 61-56 win.
Heading into halftime, visiting Pearl River held a 31-25 lead on their hosts, but according to Huskies’ forward Kendall Lefkowtiz, the tenor of the team’s discussion at halftime was far from resigned. If anything, the senior said, the team rallied around the idea of going out as winners in their final home game of the year.
“When we all got in there at halftime, we all knew that we didn’t want this to be the last game of the season for our seniors,” she said. “We knew that we had to win it, and we had to go out and play hard.”
Lefkowitz (18 points) and junior point guard Avery LaBarbera (29 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists) led the second-half resurgence that saw the Huskies finally take the lead for good with just 5:15 left to play. Head coach Louis Kail said, despite some early hiccups, the Huskies play their best when both LaBarbera and Lefkowitz are hitting shots.
“Any time you get into sectionals and you have to play a team like Pearl River, it’s going to take some time to settle in,” Kail said. “But the two of them are as close on the court as they are off of it; they feed off each other, they lead our team, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
LaBarbera also credited the team’s grueling regular season schedule with getting the team ready for a close first-round game. Including Harrison, there were four teams from League II-C that garnered top-10 seeds in the Class A playoffs, and a slew of games against teams like Rye, Eastchester and Pelham helped set the tone for playoff basketball.
“Our league is so tough, and I think playing in it has really taught us the importance of finishing games,” LaBarbera said. “That’s something we did today, and the league definitely prepared us for this.”
Coming up, the Huskies will have to contend with top-seeded Walter Panas in a Class A quarterfinal game, which will be played on Feb. 23, after press time.
In order to beat the Panthers and advance to the Westchester County Center, Lefkowitz said that the Huskies just need to stick to their team-first concept.
“When it comes to these kinds of games, you have to rely on your teammates and they have to be able to rely on you,” she said. “You just have to play team basketball, find your open teammates, and know that they’re going to find you, too.”
