Pearl River Boys, Girls Basketball Teams Prepare for Quarterfinals

Sometimes a potential matchup just jumps off the page in a playoff bracket.

The key for the teams involved is to take care of business and make sure they get there.

For the Pearl River girls, that matchup is  game away, but it has arrived for the boys team -- or at least it will when both squads play at home in a Section 1 Class A double-header today.

The No. 2-seeded Pearl River girls team (17-1) will play first at 5 p.m., needing a victory over No. 10 Byram Hills (11-8) to advance to the semifinals and possibly a third meeting with No. 3 Albertus Magnus (17-1).

"You need to take care of the team right now, not next week," Perl River coach Lorraine Moylan said.

The Pearl River boys (15-3) could also face a rival in the semifinals, Tappan Zee, but the Pirates' focus is clearly on No. 7-seed Peekskill (12-7), the team that knocked Pearl River out of the last two Section tournaments by scores of 94-69 last season and 91-37 two years ago. They meet again 7 p.m. today.

"They’ve bounced us out the last two years," Pearl River coach Jerry Houston said. "Any time you get a team responsible ending your season one year, much less  two, there is a desire to try and have it go the other eway. I think the fact ended our season last couple of years is a motivating factor."

Houston dismissed the idea that this is a down year for Peekskill, pointing out that even down for that program would still be very good. Peekskill features one of the top scorers in Section 1 in Shaine Carter, who averages 18.8 per game. He scored 20 and Kyree Hill added 18 as the No. 10 Panthers won at No. 7 Panas in the first round Friday.

"They are a victim of their own success," Houston said. "People say they are down, but it's all relative. They have one of the best players in the section in Carter and they have good pieces around him."

Pearl River has a big-time scorer of its own in senior guard Luke Houston, though he was clearly slowed by a sprained right ankle in the Pirates' 61-41 victory over Ardsley in the first round.

"It is very much day-to-day," Jerry Houston said. "We will evaluate it at the start of the game and see what he is capable of doing.

"(When he got hurt), it was not a good-looking scene. Luke has demonstrated in the past that he has a pretty good threshhold for pain. He is very determined to play. Will put up with good amount of discomfort."

Houston said tempo will be a key as it always is against Peekskill, which likes to play fast at all times while the Pirates tend to mix it up more.

"We don't want it to turn into a track meet, full tilt all the time with both teams taking quick shots," Houston said. "That plays into their hands."

Pearl River Girls Face Big Challenge

The Pearl River girls team will also be facing a No. 10 seed in Byram Hills, a team with good size anchored by junior forward Beatriz Williams . Williams averages 17.2 points per game and she was dominant in the first round with 21 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks in a victory at Sleepy Hollow.

"She can control a game, too," Moylan said. "She’s a major threat and the kids around her, too, are capable."

Pearl River's own junior standout, Christa Scognamiglio, is averaging 19.3 points per game and she is coming off a 30-point effort in an 86-39 victory over Harrison.

"I think we still haven’t played our best," Moylan said. "Our best is still coming. We are still working to get to that point."

A victory would set up a semifinal meeting with the winner of another contest on tonight's schedule -- Tappan Zee (14-5) at Albertus Magnus 7 p.m.

The Albertus Magnus boys basketball team (15-4) will play 7 p.m. Wednesday at home against Woodlands (12-7) in a Class B quarterfinal contest.