Despite an early lead, Huskies fall short to Benet

By Sports Editor Jay Abuja

https://vimeo.com/80381788

After three quarters with the lead going back and forth between NNHS and Benet Academy, senior Sean O’Mara took charge for Benet as they pulled away to win last night’s game, 70-56.

Both teams entered the game with spotless records- this game marked the first of the season. With the addition of two highly-regarded transfers to their roster, the Huskies’ captain was eager to see where NNHS stood against a much higher ranked opponent.

“With this much talent on the team, regardless of who we are facing, every night someone new can to step up,” NNHS senior captain Anthony Rehayem said.

It was Raheyem’s turn to step up against Benet, earning 26 points and grabbing a few boards as well. O’Mara was neck to neck with Raheyem in the scoring department, and he earned 19 points for Benet. All of his points came from within the paint or free throw line.

With O’Mara contained to just six points in the first half, the Huskies were able to keep the upper hand throughout the opening stretch.

NNHS and Benet came out of the gates slow to start the game, and neither team was able to find a rhythm. With NNHS junior Tyler Bushman guarding O’Mara for a majority of the first quarter, the 6’10’’ senior couldn’t get any of his shots to drop in and settled for two points. NNHS was down 11-10 at the end of the first.

The second quarter followed a similar progression- O’Mara was unable to get anything going, and the Huskies repeatedly failed to take advantage of Benet’s lack of offensive production. NNHS junior Baylor Griffin scored five of his seven points in the second quarter and gave the Huskies’ a 29-28 lead heading into half time.

Rehayem, the key to the Huskies’ offense in the first half with 16 points, couldn’t get a basket to fall in the third, leaving the Huskies’ with no other scoring options. Benet took charge and used their rebounding advantage to secure a 46-37 lead heading into the final quarter.

O’Mara, scoring ten points in the first three quarters, got out of his slump on Benet’s opening possession after throwing down a rim-rattling fast-break dunk. The Huskies’ defense started to fall apart after that sequence and were unable able to slow Benet down.

O’Mara destroyed NNHS in the paint for the rest of the game and sat out the last two minutes when victory seemed inevitable.

“We were able to slow O’Mara down in the first half, and we kept good offensive pace going,” Griffin said. “The second half was just terrible, and that is something we definitely have [to work on] moving forward.”

As far as rebounding from this loss, Griffin smiled and said, “We have the skills, now it’s time to use them.”