Pearl River Boys Basketball Cruises To Playoff Victory

Pearl River dominated Roosevelt almost from the start, building a 34-point lead on the way to a 62-38 victory at home Wednesday in a Section 1 Class A playoff game.

"I'd seen them on tape. By no means was I expecting us to walk in here and win by 25," Pearl River Head Coach Jerry Houston, Jr. said. "At the risk of giving us too much credit, part of their struggles were related to what we did, especially after the first few minutes when we got our legs underneath us and settled into the game.

"I thought it was a good job by us being very focused and executing what we tried to do offensively and defensively."

Junior forward Kevin Degnan handled most of the offense, pouring in a game-high 23 points despite barely playing at all in the second half. Senior forward Tom Davis added 10 points for the Pirates (11-8).

"I think early on we were very aggressive," Houston said. "We were getting a lot of shots in the paint. We weren't settling for perimeter shots."

Most of Pearl River's starters were done for the night by midway through the third quarter. Roosevelt (6-12) managed only 17 points through three quarters before adding on 21 in the fourth quarter against the Pirates' reserves. Demetrius Thomas led Roosevelt with 12 points.

"It was a good chance to get other people involved," Houston said. "We've got a tough one Friday, so we got a lot of rest. Friday's probably going to be different."

Pearl River, the No. 12 seed, will play Friday at No. 5 Peekskill (14-4).