New Rochelle may have ended the regular season on a sour note, dropping a nail-biter to league foe Mamaroneck on Feb. 14, but at least they came into the Class AA playoff tournament with a chance for redemption. Drawing the No. 8-seeded Tigers as their first round opponent, the No. 8 Huguenots were able to avenge that regular season loss, topping Mamaroneck 69-50 to keep their season alive and advance to the quarterfinals.

Led by 21 points and eight rebounds from Nico Andrews, the Huguenots took control early on and—save a brief third quarter run by the Tigers—never relinquished it, soundly defeating a Mamaroneck team that had been playing better since the late-season return of injured junior Aidan Roy, who finished with a 16 points. Isaac Friedman—who took on an increased role in Roy’s absence—led the team with 21. 

Offensive efficiency was key for the Huguenots on Saturday, as the team’s ball movement led to open looks from beyond the arc. New Rochelle drained 10 three pointers, something head coach Rasaun Young said was in stark contrast to the way his team played in its last go-around with the Tigers. 

“Last week, after we lost to them, we had a team meeting and we laid out a lot of stuff,” Young explained. “We were noticing a lot of selfish play so we laid it out, talked for about an hour and a half, and the result was today. They played very unselfishly.”

That talk led to a true team effort that saw 10 Huguenots record points on the day. In addition to Andrews’ 21, Austin Luzzi chipped in 13 and Christopher Tuck added seven.

“I think it was an attention to detail, today,” said Young. “On both sides of the ball, there was more focus all around.”

Young went on to say that, as pleased as he was with the team’s performance on Saturday, he was especially happy with the fact that his players were able to turn that team meeting into positive change on the court. 

“It’s all about growth; to see what they’ve had to go through with adversity this year, with Covid, missing games, make-up games, they never really got into a rhythm” he said. “But they’re getting to face that adversity and overcome it.”

They Huguenots will get another stiff test in the Class AA quarterfinals, where they will square off against top-ranked Mount Vernon on Feb. 25. The Knights are currently 17-0 and have two wins over the Huguenots on the year, topping New Rochelle 87-43 in the last meeting between the two squads on Feb. 12.

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