Girls Repeat as Horace Mann Tourney Champions

Harvey’s girls varsity basketball team won the Horace Mann Invitational Tournament championship Saturday, Dec. 2, for the second straight year as the Cavaliers cruised past Inwood Academy 66-23 to claim the first-place trophy.

Harvey jumped out to an 11-3 lead midway through the first quarter and never looked back. Harvey’s stellar defense held Inwood to just 10 points in the first half as the Cavaliers built up a 41-10 lead by halftime. The combination of the strong Harvey defense and Inwood’s difficulty in making their shots when they had them produced a third quarter output of only two points for the Academy. Harvey coach Mike Duignan said the team’s defense was key to their success. “We came out with the mindset of attacking on defense and that propelled our offense,” Coach Duignan said.

Harvey had big contributions on offense from senior captain Fernanda Alexandre who had a team-high 22 points and was named the tourney MVP. Also coming up big on offense were senior captain McKensi Forde with 18 points and her younger sister, sophomore Peyton Forde, who chipped in with 13. Both earned  All-Tournament selections. McKensi Forde and Amani Carty, away on a school-related trip during the week, had missed the team's first two games, including the opening round of the Mann tournament.

The two starters came back just in time, Coach Duignan said. “I think the team was excited to have Amani and McKensi back,” he said. “It was the first time this season we had our full complement of players,” he added. 

Assistant coach Felicia Peterson enjoyed watching the girls work together. “It was a pleasure to see how quickly the girls jelled,” Coach Peterson said, adding  “It will be fun to see them grow  even more as the season progresses.”

With the win, the girls improved to 3-0 to start the season.