Sometimes, getting taken down a peg or two can eventually pay huge dividends.
On Feb. 8, the Mamaroneck boys basketball team found that out first-hand, as they snapped a three-game skid to re-establish their spot as one of the top teams in the Class AAA landscape, topping fellow title-hopeful Suffern 60-56 in a high-stakes regular season tilt.
The Tigers kicked off the 2024-2025 season with an impressive 14 game winning-streak, which came to an end on Jan. 28 with a loss to league foe New Rochelle. In the next four days, Mamaroneck would suffer two more losses—against both Scarsdale and Dewitt Clinton—before enjoying nearly a week off before squaring off against the Mounties, who came into Saturday’s contest just one spot behind their hosts on the Class AAA leaderboard.
That time off, said Tigers junior standout Brandon Burrell, helped the team to refocus in order to stave off the challenge from the Mounties.
“We had a rough week and picked up a couple of losses, so this week at practice, we went to work a lot harder because we didn’t want that feeling again,” said Burrell. “Suffern is right up there with us at the top of the standings and we wanted to solidify our spot, so that was even more motivation for us.”
Burrell was instrumental in the bounce-back win, scoring a team-high 22 points on the night. Will Plunkett added 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Elijah Friedman drained five three pointers to finish with 15 points.
The Mounties were led by a dynamic showing from Jeph Joseph—who led all scorers with 23 points—and Jake Pampolina, who scored 21.
Burrell noted that the three-point shooting for the Tigers was a big factor in the win, as the Tigers sunk 13 from beyond the arc on the night, including a combined 11 from Friedman and Burrell.
“We felt pretty good early on,” said Burrell. “And with Elijah, he’s never afraid to shoot the ball and he was really big for us today.”
With the win, the Tigers improved to 15-3 on year and held on to sole possession of second place in the Class AAA standings. But the Tigers will face more tests before the playoffs start, with rematches this week against top-seeded New Rochelle and No. 6 seed Mount Vernon.
Burrell said that this onslaught of tough divisional opponents will only serve to get the Tigers ready for the postseason battles.
“Games like this are really crucial, because as we get to the playoffs, we’re hoping to make a deep run,” said Burrell. “We know every game is going to be close, so perfecting those late game situations is going to be important.”
