The shots may not have been falling on Friday night, but that didn’t seem to slow down New Rochelle much—if at all.
On Jan. 2, the reigning Section 1 Class AAA champion Huguenots took on two-time Class C champ Woodlands in the Slam Dunk Showcase at the Westchester County Center, using grit, guile—and some last-second heroics to down the Falcons 41-39 on the grandest stage in Westchester.
Bryce Seward put the Huguenots on top for good with just 17 seconds left to play, hitting a twisting turning layup in the lane to effectively seal the deal. The junior guard—who played valuable minutes during last—has been a driving force for the Huguenots this year, especially given the off-season injury to Izaiah Augustine. On Friday, he finished with 17 points and five rebounds in a complete game’s worth of work.
“Two possessions before that, he came down and gave the ball up, but we still wanted the ball in his hands,” laughed Huguenots coach Rasaun Young. “With the game on the line, we knew they weren’t going to be able to stop him.”
Fynn Bowman finished with eight points and Chris Waldron had six points and five boards on the night, while a big, rugged Woodlands team was led by Noah Cherubin, who finished with 14 points. Sean McKenny (8 points) and Sebastian Benitez combined to grab 19 boards for the Falcons.
At 7-2 on the year, the Huguenots are certainly in the mix to defend their 2025 title, but will need to clear out a crowded field of league opponents if they hope to improve their sectional seeding before the start of playoffs.
League foes Mamaroneck and Mount Vernon have yet to drop a Section 1 game this year, while White Plains earned a December win over the Huguenots just before the break. But even though this team may look different than the one that hoisted the Gold Ball a year ago, Young feels that this group will round into shape before the end of the regular season. And the thing he’s hoping to see the most of is the sort of intensity his squad came out with against the Falcons.
“That effort is so important to our success,” he explained. “We’re not a great offensive team yet, we missed a lot of shots until we started getting to the lane in the fourth quarter. We know Woodlands is a good team, so we knew we had to come out with that grit.”
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