Pearl River Pirates Celebrate Seniors, Defeat Nyack

With family and friends in attendance, the Pearl River Pirates Boys basketball team defeated Nyack 71-45 Monday at home.

With the victory, the Pirates ran their record to an impressive 14-3 on the season.

Leading scorer Luke Houston led the Pirates with 25 points, and fellow seniors Anthony Calise, Joseph Walsh, John Donovan, and Shane McIntyre combined to score 19 points. The night’s largest surprise however, was the play of Giulano Gashaj. The little-used senior; who was starting his first game of the season, scored 11 points- including nine in the first quarter.

The Pirates led the Indians from start to finish. Their suffocating defense stymied the Indians offense and forced them into several turnovers. Those led to fast break opportunities early on for Pearl River, and at the close of the first period, the Pirates held a 28-6 lead. They maintained that lead throughout,  extending it to as many as twenty-six, which was the Pirates final margin of victory.

Coach Jerry Houston started five of the six seniors on his roster to open the game, and many of them played a bulk of the minutes in the first half:

 “It’s kind of a tradition here; to start the seniors on senior night,” Houston said after the game, “Even though we had six seniors, (regular starter) John Donovan stepped aside so that some of the other seniors could have the opportunity to start.”

Before the game, which was the seniors' final home game, Pearl River honored their senior athletes as they do each and every season. Prior to tip-off, each senior was accompanied on to the court by members of their family and announced to the crowd. There, they were presented with flowers by members of the athletic department and afterwards, the seniors and their families took part in a brief photo session.

Danny Kramer led Nyack with 13 points.

Now the Pirates will turn their attention to the sectional playoffs, which start on Friday, Feb. 18. The pairings will be announced Feb. 16. Jerry Houston hopes that the ride his senior-laden team has taken him on so far this season continues well beyond that.

“We’ll be playing for at least the next two weeks, but we’re hoping to make it another month," Houston said. "We’ll have a better idea where we stand towards the beginning of next week, when the regular season schedules finish up.”

The Pirates final regular season game will be a county game to be played next Monday, February 14. The time and date of the game is yet to be determined, as is the opponent.