The Rye Boys Basketball team just did something it had not done since 1989: win a State tournament postseason game.
The Garnets kept their 2026 season alive with a 62-47 win over Goshen on Tuesday, March 10, eliminating the Gladiators and advancing to the Regional championship game. Rye jumped out to a 34-13 lead at halftime and put together another strong run to begin the third quarter to run away with the win, despite a strong effort from Goshen in the final frame.
Carson Miller delivered a signature performance, leading Rye with 18 points and shutting down Gladiator star point guard Jim Kelly. Kelly only mustered 18 points on an inefficient day from the field, well below his season average of about 30.0 points-per-game.
“Great effort by Carson containing Jim Kelly… forced him and his teammates into a lot of long range forced and contested shots,” Head Coach Tommy Proudian told MyRye.com. “The team defense was great, especially when others had to pick up Kelly on switches.”
Ben Hudson (11 points) and Sebastian Lewis (10 points) also reached double figures in scoring, with several other Garnets sinking multiple field goals throughout the contest to help Rye to one of its most efficient games from the floor this season. The shooting gallery created, at its largest, a 29-point advantage for Proudian’s team, although the head coach knows a stronger finish to the Regional championship game will be required to win.
“We got sloppy and careless at points of the second half that allowed Goshen to close the gap,” Proudian admitted. “We cannot afford to play sloppy and careless against Smithtown West on Friday night – if we do, our season will be over.”
The Garnets (19-5) are riding a 5-0 postseason record into the Regional finals on Friday, March 13, against one-loss Smithtown West at Yorktown High School. Rye is three wins from a potential State championship – if they defeat Smithtown, they advance to the State semifinals.
