here may be plenty of season left, but the New Rochelle boys basketball team really couldn’t have asked for a better start to the 2023-2024 campaign. On Dec. 22, the Huguenots continued their perfect play, outlasting a solid Arlington team 63-49 to win their sixth straight game of the year.
The Huguenot win was led by another terrific outing from Malik Gasper, who scored 18 points and hauled in 20 rebounds to boot. Kas Mirza had a team-high 21 points for New Rochelle, while Sean Thomas scored 10 points while dishing out five assists. Jensey Adames paced the Admirals—who fell to 2-3 with the loss—with 16 points.
Huguenots head coach Rasaun Young has been pleased with his team’s play thus far, noting that a few new arrivals, plus the continued development of some returning like Gasper, have paid dividends for the squad.
“We we knew all the core guys were coming back,” said Young. “And getting Sean back, I think we got that extra big guard that we had needed, and he’s played with all these guys growing up so he fit right in.”
The Arlington win capped off a three-game stretch that might have been the Huguenots’ first big test of the season. In the span of four days, New Rochelle took on—and beat—three solid Class AAA foes including then-unbeaten White Plains, North Rockland, and Arlington.
Young said that it was a chance for his group to begin to figure out who they were.
“This was a big week starting with White Plains, looking at those teams it was like ‘wow’,” he said. “But if these guys think they’re getting off tomorrow just because we won three in a row, we’re going to be right back at it tomorrow.”
The Huguenots will close out the 2023 calendar year with a trip upstate to play in a tournament in Elmira, NY., and will be back in action after New Years with a highly-anticipated test against league foe Scarsdale.
The Raiders are currently 3-1, with their only loss coming against national powerhouse Stepinac. Scarsdale upset Mount Vernon for the Class AA title last year, and while the Huguenots and Raiders are no longer in the same playoff pool due to re-classification, this January matchup will still be an important one for New Rochelle.
“We’re working hard but we know we still have a long way to go,” said Young. “We’re still trying to figure a few things out and continue to get better.”
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