NMHS Holiday Basketball Tournament

The New Milford High School Basketball Tournament opened with a nail-biting victory for the varsity girls against the Westwood Cardinals, while the varsity boys suffered defeat to the Hasbrouck Heights Aviators. 

The Lady Knights opened strong with Jenean Igmat scoring the first basket. Carly Lesko and Samone DeFreese provided strong defensive blocks and precision passing while hitting the net to score. Also scoring were teammates Victoria Astillero and Mackenzie Holowach. 

The game stayed close through all four quarters. In a blistering back and forth lead in the fourth quarter, the game came down to the final six seconds when DeFreese banked a shot giving the Lady Knights the two points needed to break the 42-42 tie against Westwood and advance the team to the finals. The Lady Knights will be playing today at 3 p.m. at NMHS.

The New Milford Knights squared off against the Hasbrouck Heights Aviators and showed tight defensive play throughout the first half ending the second quarter down by six points, 26-32.

The momentum was lost during the third quarter as the Knights struggled with shooting and their defense seemed outrun by the Aviators fast-paced offense. Even with a three-pointer by Royce Rebustillo and a great shot by Connor Swanson, the Knights couldn't stop the Aviators scoring and fell 64-47, ending their hope of advancing to the finals.