Which local basketball teams have the toughest schedule?
Sports writer Kevin Devaney Jr. loves to crunch numbers and recently analyzed varsity high school basketball data for Section 1 (which includes teams from the Highlands) for his website at KDJBlog.com.
By tracking the winning percentage of teams’ opponents, he calculated that the Mount Vernon boys (9-8) had, through Jan. 30, the toughest schedule of any of the 75 teams in the section, with Putnam Valley (2-11) at No. 3, Beacon (6-11) at No. 11 and Haldane (11-3) — which has won half of its games by 25 points or more — at No. 67.
Haldane, which scores an average of 65 points per game, is ranked No. 10 among the section’s 25 top-scoring teams; the Blue Devils are No. 11 in defense — i.e., the fewest points allowed per game — at 46.6. (Beacon is not among the top 25 in either category.)
Among the girls’ teams, Lourdes (12-2) had the toughest schedule of 70 schools through Jan. 30, with Haldane (7-7) at No. 21 and Beacon (6-11) at No. 47. Neither Highlands team was in the top 25 in points scored per game, but Beacon was No. 19 in fewest points allowed (44.7). New Rochelle scored the most points per game (67.6) and Hendrick Hudson allowed the least (34.1).
