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The reigning HVAL champion Harvey’s boys varsity basketball team had only one thing on their collective minds Friday, Feb. 6 when they took on the first place Watkinson Rams in the Fenstermacher Athletic Center, and that was to avenge a one-point loss they had suffered at the hands of the Rams last month in Hartford. It was a gritty, hard-fought rematch, but Harvey held on and turned away the Rams, 51-44, handing them their first loss to a league opponent. With their win, the Cavs are 6-1 while the Rams fall to 7-1.  

Harvey opened the first half scoring the first eight points of the game. Watkinson had trouble finding the basket for much of the first half while the Cavs were hitting most of their shots. Seniors Cam Spruils, Wyatt Bland, and Piotr Pajewski and sophomore Gavin Botoff came up big in several spots to keep Harvey’s offense percolating. Spruils and Pajewski each had eight points while Bland and Botoff added five apiece. Harvey enjoyed a 29-15 lead at intermission.

The Cavs needed that 14-point lead to start the second half because Watkinson’s offense perked up and would actually go on to outscore the Cavs by seven points as the game moved into the later stages. But Harvey never lost the lead. Once again, it was Spruils who led the way. He would go on to score 13 to help Harvey stay ahead. At the 3:51 mark, Watkinson cut the lead down to only four. But one minute later Spruils went to the line and sank two foul shots and Bland followed up with a field goal.

With the Cavs up by eight with two minutes to go, momentum seemed to be shifting their way, but 20 seconds later, Watkinson trimmed the deficit back to five when their guard hit a 3-pointer to make the score 48-43 with less than two minutes to play.

Leading 49-44 with just 18 seconds left, Harvey sealed the deal when Pajewski scored the game’s final points. The Cavs had their win and satisfied their goal of avenging their one-point loss to the Rams earlier. 

“It was a great win, and I’m very proud of the boys,” said Harvey head coach Denis Arnautovic. “We got some new energy at the right time,” he added. 

Spruils had another outstanding game, finishing with a team-high 21 points. Pajewski, who just recently joined the team after being sidelined since December with an injury, tallied 12, and Bland totaled 11 and made his presence felt on the court with great hustle, especially on defense.

.The Harvey boys, now 10-4 overall, welcome Williams to Katonah Wednesday, Feb. 11 in another HVAL contest.