On December 18th, the boys varsity basketball team faced off against division rival, Robert F. Kennedy High School. After fierce competition, the team was able to trump Robert F. Kennedy High School with a final score of 45-43 to extend their win streak to 6 games.
Last year, the team suffered a massive 56-40 loss to Robert F. Kennedy, and they looked to even the score in their first meeting of the season with the team. Senior Jason Nieh explained that the team had high hopes going in, since “RFK [had] a weaker team this season.”
The first quarter of the game was scrappy effort. Townsend Harris was able to secure an early lead of four points, thanks to RFK’s slow start. RFK’s soon began to show signs of competition as it quickly retook the lead 13-10 with a strong performance from the three point line. By the end of the quarter, the teams were closely matched 12-13 with RFK leading.
THHS was quick to react in the second quarter. The team quickly regained the lead through a number of free throws while throwing RFK into foul trouble. RFK also struggled heavily in securing possession of the ball as the team turned the ball over twice in the quarter. THHS took advantage of these turnovers to end the quarter with a 25-19 lead over RFK.
Upon returning from halftime, THHS struggled to match its earlier performance. The team struggled throughout the third quarter to secure the ball, resulting in five turnovers in the quarter. RFK soon tied the score with strong performances from the three point line and by the end of the quarter RFK had secured a 32-30 lead over THHS.
In the fourth quarter, both teams battled fiercely to secure victory. Quick points and a number of fouls drawn by THHS soon put the team ahead 36-32 with five minutes remaining when RFK called its first timeout of the quarter. RFK came soon battled back after the timeout and cut THHS’ lead to three points. WIth almost one minute remaining, RFK sunk a key three point shot to set the score at 43-42 in their favor. THHS scraped out two fouls to earn 4 free throws. The team managed to only score 3 of the 4 free throws, but those free throws proved enough to propel THHS to 45-43 victory.
