Varsity Basketball Splits In Busy Day at the SHS Gyms

Varsity Girls before the tip-off against Clarkstown SouthIt was a big day for the Scarsdale Raiders Basketball teams at SHS on Saturday February 7th. All six teams were in action including both the girls varsity team who was celebrating their Senior Night and the boys varsity team. While the action on the court did not disappoint, the significance of these games and the day itself had a greater meaning than the basketball.

This day marked the annual “Jimmy V Foundation Basketball Showcase,” held every year to raise money for cancer research through the Jimmy V Foundation. SHS’s Breast Cancer Awareness Club sold food with proceeds donated to the foundation. A 50-50 raffle also took place and teams/kids from the Scarsdale Youth Basketball Association were on hand. These kids were given the opportunity to play on the court during halftime.

Many people came out to support this great cause and to cheer on Scarsdale basketball. Gyms 3 and 4, where both varsity matches took place, were packed with spectators from both the home and away teams along with many SHS students who came to support their friends and their team.

Girls Varsity:

The Girls Varsity squad matched up against Clarkstown South with a 1PM tip-off. Before the game, Scarsdale seniors Leah Brown, Chloe Powell and Stevie Rosenberg were honored as a part of senior night. This marked Scarsdale's last regular season home game.

Freshman Abigail Nadborny had a dominant performance.In terms of the game itself, it started off slowly with a tied score of 12-12 at halftime. Scarsdale began to pull away in the third quarter but Clarkstown South used accurate three point shooting and Scarsdale had too many fouls, keeping Clarkstown in the game. Scarsdale held a narrow 26-23 lead heading into the fourth quarter. But Clarkstown South wouldn’t go down as they kept capitalizing on Scarsdale's mistakes and made big shots.

Down 35-31 with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter, in came Abigail Nadborny. Scarsdale’s freshman phenom who is having a fantastic season put on a show putting the team on her back and beginning an epic Raider rally. Nadbornyy started it with a big three pointer to cut South’s lead to one and then with 33 seconds left, Nadborny hit a two pointer to give Scarsdale a 36-35 lead. Finally, Nadborny hit clutch free throws to put the game away giving the girls a huge 43-40 win to honor their seniors.
Junior Reese Newman

Boys Varsity:

Twenty minutes after the conclusion of the girls game, the boys tipped off in what was to be a huge game against Mount Vernon. Looking for the season sweep against the Knights after beating them back in January, Scarsdale took it to them early, starting off the game on a 7-0 run. Mount Vernon then scored the next eight points, and did not look back from that point forward. Down 26-19 at the half, Scarsdale looked for a comeback in the second half but the great shooting of Mount Vernon's along with their strong ability to get offensive rebounds put the game away. Eventually the Raiders found themselves down by 14 points.

Junior Ryan Sussberg
There was a sequence in the fourth quarter where it looked like Scarsdale was making a comeback as they cut the lead down to nine, but that small glimmer of hope was not enough as the Raiders fell to Mount Vernon 56-42.

While the end results for the boys were not what they wanted, it was still a great day for the Scarsdale basketball program and Scarsdale athletics. On the court and off the court, the Raiders stepped up in a big way and both the boys and girls varsity teams will look to carry this momentum into playoff time.

Text by Jack Capabianco, photos by Jeremy Gorrin

Harry Spicer dribbles the ball up court.