Horace Mann wins sixth straight game

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Horace Mann School’s girls basketball team is on the revenge trail. First victim: Poly Prep.

Jaylah DeGout scored 14 points, including the Lions’ last eight of the game, and Jenny Reiss and Jordan Nixon each scored 13 points as Horace Mann beat Poly Prep 43-38 on Jan. 30 on their home court inside Prettyman Gymnasium. 

The Lions lost at Poly Prep on Jan. 9, 44-38, but have won six in a row since then to improve to 11-2 and 6-2 in the Ivy Preparatory School League. Horace Mann was scheduled to play at Masters on Tuesday, Feb. 3 in a non-league game before welcoming Dalton on Wednesday, Feb. 4. Dalton (6-0 in league) defeated Horace Mann 55-44 on Dec. 10.

“This is redemption,” Nixon said after Friday’s win. “We played amazing as a team. In the first [Poly Prep] game, we kind of struggled with fouls and we weren’t able to execute down the stretch.”

 

Stretch troubles

 

Horace Mann again faltered down the stretch, but had a large enough lead to hold on. The Lions closed the third quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 32-22 lead, but Poly Prep was within three with 2:22 left in the fourth quarter. After two tough defensive stops, DeGout’s layup with 11 seconds left sealed the win.

“If I have three girls in double-digits scoring, I think we’re definitely going to win,” said Horace Mann coach Ray Barile. “I really think we’re starting to jell and the team is growing and improving.”

Reiss and forward Caroline Levy are the team’s lone seniors, and the co-captains set the example for the younger players with their defensive intensity. But Nixon, while only a freshman, leads the team in scoring at 17 points per game, and she is not afraid to take command of the offense with her soft shooting touch and fancy dribbling.

During the Lions’ third-quarter run, the spunky guard corralled a rebound and took off on a fast break — by herself — and despite a 1-on-3 situation, she sunk a short jumper. On the next possession, she threw a deft pass to DeGout for an easy layup.

After this week, Horace Mann will play only three more league games, and the Lions were two games behind Dalton before their Wednesday rematch. Dalton also has two games remaining with Poly Prep, so Horace Mann is still in play for the league title.

“Hopefully, they’ll knock each other off,” Barile said. “Our goal is to not lose again this season.”

Horace Mann, basketball, Chris Mascaro

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