Karah Provenzano, Junior Editor
20 December, 2023
For the third year in a row, the Louie Larizza Basketball Tournament held at Port Chester High School returned with new teams for both the boys and girls leagues. This year the boys tournament consisted of Port Chester, Blind Brook, Edgemont, and Rye Neck. On the girls side, there were only three teams in which a round robin tournament style was played. These teams were Port Chester, Carmel, and Haldane.
The Annual Louie Larizza Basketball Tournament is held in memory of one of the best and most talented Port Chester basketball players, Louis Larizza, Jr. Larizza graduated from Port Chester High School in 2008 where he sported the number three and went on to play division one basketball at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey. Louis or “Louie” as he was known by friends and family unexpectedly passed away on April 2, 2017 at the age of 26. His parents, Louis and Nella Larizza decided the best way to honor his memory was to create an annual tournament to be held in December at his beloved alma mater.
The tournament opened up with the girls playing on Thursday, December 7th against Carmel High School. In a great second game for the Lady Ram’s 2023 season, they beat the Carmel Rams 60-19. Junior shooting guard Nagare Jones led Port Chester with 17 points, five rebounds, and four steals. McKayla McLoughlin racked up ten points, six assists, and four steals, Sam Munoz chipped in with seven points and five steals, and Karah Provenzano had seven points and five steals. Player of the game was given to Nagare Jones for her outstanding performance.
Ram’s junior Nagare Jones takes an important free throw.
Image Credit: Cindy Laines
The following day, the boys faced off against a strong Rye Neck team where the game got away from the rams. When the clock buzzed at the end of the fourth quarter, the final score was 60-27 with the Rye Neck Panthers coming out victorious. Junior superstar Guillermo Zabala led Port Chester and scored 23 points in the match.
Saturday arrived and for the first time, only one of the Port Chester teams would make it to their respective championship games held at Port Chester High School. At 2 p.m., the rams faced off against a much taller Edgemont team in the new gymnasium of King Street Elementary School for the boys consolation game. They fought hard but Edgemont managed to pull away and win the game 60-50. At 4 p.m., the lady rams geared up to play against a sharp shooting Haldane team. As the Blue Devils passed the ball around the arc and hit any open three pointer that came their way, the lady rams managed to stay in the game by using their inside the paint talent. Unfortunately, after a scrappy battle, the lady rams lost the game by 10 points, just as their male counterparts did a few hours prior. The final score was 49-39. In the loss eighth grade point guard Mckayla McLoughlin had 18 points while senior captain Sam Munoz had seven points and five steals.
For both the boy’s Friday game and girl’s Saturday game, the Larizza family was sitting in the stands cheering for Port Chester while wearing their Louie Larizza tournament shirts. Over the years, the Larizza family put much effort and support back into the Port Chester basketball programs. Each year, all varsity players on both the girls and boys teams receive new matching team sneakers which is entirely paid for out of the Larizza’s own pocket. For all away games, the Larizza family buys ham and turkey sandwiches for the athletes to ensure they are well fed before playing. The support that the Larizza family gives to the basketball programs does not go unnoticed. The Annual Louie Larizza tournament will be back next December to honor the late Louis Larriza Jr. ‘s memory.