In winner-takes-all contests, nothing is a recipe for success quite like a good start. On Feb. 15, the Eastchester Eagles hosted Nanuet in a Class A Outbracket game and wasted little time getting a jump on the Golden Knights, scoring 13 of the first 15 points and going on to top their visitors 60-51. If the No. 9 seed Eagles can maintain that focus, head coach Fred DiCarlo believes they have the ability to contend with first-round opponent Albertus Magnus on Feb. 20, after press time.

DiCarlo came into Saturday’s game confident that his team was ready for the task at hand, and nothing that transpired in the first half was enough to shake his resolve.

“We were definitely focused and you saw that right from the start,” he said. “We’ve had some games where we tend to lose focus a bit and you saw that a bit in the third quarter, but overall I thought we played pretty good defense the entire way through.”

Offensively, the Eagles were led by a well-rounded effort that has seemingly become the team’s calling card. Danny George and Sean Donnellan paced the home team with 11 points apiece, while Michael Zeolla finished with 10. Eastchester also outrebounded the Golden Knights by a healthy margin, spearheaded in part by the efforts of William Doyle (8 rebounds) and Anthony LeStrange (7 rebounds), which helped the Eagles limit their opponents’ second chance opportunities.

Team depth has been an important factor for the Eagles this year, DiCarlo explained.

“We’re playing 10 guys and we’re going to go with the guy who’s hot,” he said. “That guy might be playing more minutes than he did the day before, so scouting us is hard in terms of who you’re going to defend because we can all shoot the ball. And it works when we play together.”

With the victory, the Eagles will earn the right to take on No. 4 Albertus Magnus, after Magnus topped Sleepy Hollow 50-38 in the outbracket game, led by an outstanding performance by guard Cameron McGrath, who led all scorers with 22 points.

According to DiCarlo, slowing down the standout senior is going to be a point of emphasis for the Eagles on Wednesday night.

“McGrath is one of the best guards in the section and you can’t have that sort of record and not be good,” the coach said. “Every game now is a do-or-die, so we’ll watch some video and go from there.”