Harvey boys are back-to-back HVAL champs

Harvey boys pose with their HVAL Championship trophy for the second-straight year. Gabe Palacio photos

Senior captain Piotr Pajewski grabs a rebound.

It’s back-to-back Hudson Valley Athletic League titles for Harvey’s boys basketball team with the No. 1 seed Cavs’ 67-43 victory on March 2 over No. 2 Watkinson in the HVAL championship game at the Fenstermacher Athletic Center.

The two teams, 1-1 in their regular season matchups against each other, came into the title game with just the one in-league loss. Many expected the title match to be a tight, back-and-forth game that could go down to the final buzzer, but after an inauspicious start in the first 90 seconds of play when they were down 7-0, the Cavaliers got rolling with senior captain Cam Spruils sparking the offense.

Spruils scored Harvey’s first 2 points and went on to score a dozen more before the end of the first half. Senior guard Wyatt Bland initiated and then capped off a Harvey 10-0 run  to give the Cavs a 10-point lead at 16-6. After the Rams sank 2 free throws to stop the run, Spruils then went on a quick tear, scoring 7 points, three coming on a shot from long distance. Harvey led 23-10 at halftime.

The second half started with senior captain Piotr Pajewski hitting a field goal and getting what would be the first two of the 8 points he would score in the second half. Back-to-back baskets by Pajewski following Spruils’ two successful free throws, put the Cavs up by 16 with 12:28 remaining in the game.

When sophomore guard Darron Yelling sank two free throws at the 7:30 mark, Harvey padded its lead to 18. Yelling and junior guard Dominick Bonserio hit three 3-pointers to seal the win as Harvey walked off the final seconds and secured their second consecutive HVAL championship.

Harvey head coach Denis Arnautovic was very happy for his players. 

“All season the boys worked so hard to get to this point. We couldn’t be any prouder of their achievement,” the coach said. He said the team’s two captains, Spruils and Pajewski, deserve a “big shout-out.”

Spruils finished with a team-leading 20 points. Yelling had 12, and Bland also hit in double figures with 10. Along with Yelling, Pajewski also had a big second half, collecting all of his points, along with Bonserio who had nine. Sophomore Gavin Botoff chipped in seven.

Harvey earned a berth in the New England Prep School Athletic Council Class C Championship Tournament. The Cavs are the Class C reigning champions.