Eastchester might not have come out of the gate swinging on Tuesday afternoon, but they certainly closed their game out in style. On Feb. 22, the No. 6-seeded Eagles overcame a slow start against No. 11 Nanuet in the first round of the Class A playoffs, shaking off some early jitters to beat the Golden Knights 49-37 and advance to the quarterfinal round.
After scoring the first bucket of the game off the opening tipoff, Eastchester was unable to get into a rhythm in the early goings, and seemed poised to head into the second quarter with just four points until a buzzer-beating three-pointer cut the lead to 16-7. Eagles’ point guard Frankie Provenzale credited Nanuet’s physical toughness with disrupting Eastchester’s flow and said that his team needed to find answers after a rough first eight minutes.
“I think we were just getting pushed out on defense, which we’re not normally used to,” said Provenzale. “So we had to make adjustments, recover and we did.”
The Eagles roared back in to close out the half with the score knotted at 21-21 before opening the third quarter with a 15-3 run that effectively put the game out of reach. Senior John Russell led the way after halftime, scoring 14 of his team-high 16 points in the second half, while Provenzale chipped in 11 points. Center Michael Lawlor, who faced double-teams throughout much of the contest, added 10 of his own.
Provenzale credited Eastchester’s second half run to being able to play the up-tempo game that defined the team throughout its 16-4 regular season.
“[It gelled] Once we got a couple of baskets on the press and started running,” he said. “If we’re playing defense, getting rebounds, running and getting easy baskets, that’s when we’re at our best.”
Provenzale also credited the team’s grueling league schedule—Eastchester is one of three teams from the division still alive in the quarterfinal round—as well as spirited in-practice competition with helping the Eagles retain their composure despite Nanuet’s early run.
“I think if this had been earlier in the season, if we went down by 12, we might not have responded,” said the senior. “But going through the teams in our league and working so hard in practice—just against each other—I think that gave us the ability to come back today.”
The Eagles may need to call on that mental toughness in their quarterfinal round game, as they will face a familiar league foe in No. 3 Byram Hills. The Bobcats—outlasted Somers 69-63 in their first round game—split the regular season series against Eastchester, winning the first meeting between the two teams 60-53. On Feb. 5, Eastchester returned the favor, topping the Bobcats 52-36.
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