Rye Boys Basketball Splits Weekend Games, Kessner Reaches 1K

(PHOTO: Rye's Jake Kessner (#24) scored his 1000th career point in his team's 60-42 victory over Somers on Monday, January 6. Credit: Rye Athletics)
(PHOTO: Rye’s Jake Kessner (#24) scored his 1000th career point in his team’s 60-42 victory over Somers on Monday, January 6. Credit: Rye Athletics)

The Rye Boys Varsity Basketball Team split their first two games of 2025, falling short of Mamaroneck on Saturday, January 4, but bouncing back with a convincing win on Monday the sixth over Somers. Rye trailed the Tigers 29-23 at half and ended up losing 64-50, but stormed back two days later for a resounding 60-42 victory over the Tuskers.

The quality of opponent was a big discrepancy from Saturday to Monday, but Head Coach Tommy Proudian still believes his team could contend with Mamaroneck on a better day. “We’ll learn from it, watch the game film together… get things cleaned up and corrected, and move on,” Proudian told MyRye.com after the defeat. He blamed himself for his team’s defensive struggles, saying, “I need to do a better job of preparing and motivating the team for a game of that magnitude.”

Despite the loss, Rocklan Boisseau scored 18 points to lead Rye in his best game of the young season. On the other side, Elijah Friedman (20 points, including 5 triples) and Will Plunkett (17 points) led the charge for the Tigers.

Against a more vulnerable Somers team, the Garnets found much more defensive success, limiting the Tuskers to only 40 points in their Monday evening win. Jake Kessner had 20 points to pace Rye, reaching the 1000-point milestone for his varsity basketball career. Kessner is a rare four year starter on the team, and his hard work culminated in an impressive milestone on Monday.

“It was nice to bounce back and get the victory vs Somers,” Proudian told MyRye.com. “I was proud of the team’s effort and seeing them playing with good energy.”

Proudian knows his team still has some room for improvement, and they will have two more big tests before the week is over. First, on Wednesday, January 8, his Garnets travel to Yorktown for a pivotal road contest at 6:15pm. Then, on Friday 1/10, the Garnets play host to Byram Hills at 7:00pm. That game is Rye’s fourth in seven days, and is a rematch of last year’s highly competitive section championship game, which Byram Hills won.

Watch the home contest vs the Bobcats on Friday here. Watch the replays of the games vs (Somers) and (Mamaroneck).

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