Horace Mann girls advance to NYSAIS semifinals

Horace Mann School head coach Ray Barile had a one-word message for his team at halftime: defense.

Down six and just a half away from elimination in the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) postseason on Wednesday night, his Lions got the message loud and clear.

Horace Mann held its opponent to just six points in the second half, including two in the fourth quarter, as the Lions rallied to defeat the Immaculata Academy, 38-32, in a quarterfinal-round game. The Lions will now move on to face Poly Prep in the semifinals.

“We’ve worked so hard this season and we didn’t want to see it come to a close,” freshman Jordan Nixon said. “He [Barile] stressed defense. We knew what we were capable of. We knew we could outplay them, outrun them. Overall, it was just defense. “

It was a battle of the “Jordans” all game. Immaculata’s Jordan Heinold, scored eight straight points in less than a minute in the second quarter to key a 10-0 run. Her scoring spurt — which featured two and-1s and a nifty layup — gave the Spartans a 10-point lead, their largest of the game.

But the second half was about the other Jordan. Nixon scored four of her team’s first five points in the second half and then made a nice pass to Jenny Reiss, who hit a corner three that tied the game with 2:08 left in the third.

On the other end, Horace Mann’s defensive switch to the 1-3-1 resulted in just four points for Immaculata in the third quarter as the Lions pulled within two points.

Immaculata had an even more difficult time putting points up in the fourth quarter. Heinold scored on a tough turnaround layup with 7:47 remaining, but the team went scoreless the rest of the game.

Horace Mann went on a 10-0 run over the final seven minutes of the game and took its first lead since the opening moments of the first quarter.

“We knew that our whole season would be over if we didn’t really pick it up in the fourth quarter,” sophomore Jojo Levy said. “It was really like a go hard or go home situation. So everyone kind of rallied together and pulled it out.”

Nixon finished with 20 points, six rebounds and four steals. Reiss also made 10 points and five steals for the Lions.

Horace Mann, which has won seven of its last eight, will travel to Poly Prep Friday for a semifinal matchup. The teams split their two regular season meetings with Horace Mann winning, 43-38, at home before dropping a 44-38 decision at Poly Prep.

“We have to rebound the basketball against Poly Prep,” Barile said. “It all comes down to rebounding and playing the defense we do. Our offense will be our offense.”