Jubilation over boys basketball Section win

First time Gold ball has returned to Peekskill in 11 years

Coach Tyrone Searight pointing to his winning basketball team. Junior Jaden Chavis holding aloft the section plaque. Photo by Damien Ritter

By Regina Clarkin, All photos by Student Photographer Damien Ritter

March 4, 2024

Tyrone Searight, Peekskill boys’ basketball coach, gave his players a day off on Sunday after their cliffhanger of a win on Saturday night at the County Center that saw them bring home the Section 1 Gold championship ball after defeating Suffern, 56-54.

“I texted them and told them to take the day off, to enjoy it and regroup,” Searight told the Herald on Monday. The team will be practicing today for about three hours and another hour and a half Tuesday before facing Binghamton at Yorktown High School on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Fortuitously, Peekskill has played Binghamton in a game off the regular season schedule. Searight has a friend in Albany who reached out to the coach of Binghamton and arranged a game between Peekskill and Binghamton in early December. “We played both the JV and the Varsity teams.”

Damien Ritter
Coach Tyrone Searight pointing to his winning basketball team. Junior Jaden Chavis holding aloft the section plaque. Photo by Damien Ritter

“We try to give the kids a different experience and network with a lot of people. It’s a chance for them to bond and play with others,” said Searight who has been coaching the boys team for the past two years. He was coach of the girls team for a year before.

A 1988 graduate of Peekskill High School who played basketball under Coach Lou Panzanarro, Searight said he has seen how the team has matured and increased in their understanding of what the coaches are teaching them. “I’ve seen a major leap in their growth especially when going through adversity. They are learning to stay the course.”

Peekskill, Section 1 champion, plays Section 4 winner Binghamton. The winner of that game plays Section 9 champion, Our Lady of Lourdes at Mt. St. Mary College in Newburgh on March 9.

If they win against Binghamton on Wednesday, they advance to play Our Lady of Lourdes at Mt. St. Mary College in Newburgh.

About the Contributor

Regina Clarkin, Editor and Publisher

When the Peekskill Herald weekly newspaper ceased publishing in August 2000 it was the first time in the history of the city that there wasn’t a local newspaper. The award-winning weekly was often referred to as the ‘glue’ of the community. Founded on January 9, 1986 by Regina Clarkin, Kathy Daley and Rich Zahradnik with a $7,000 credit card line, the paper filled the void created when the daily Evening Star was sold to Gannett and moved out of town. Founding publisher Regina Clarkin continued to live in the Peekskill Cortlandt area and turned her attention to other life endeavors. Through the ensuing 19 years, Clarkin was frequently stopped in town and asked when she would start up the Herald again. In January 2019, Clarkin decided it was less labor intensive to deliver a weekly blog than a print newspaper so she began posting one story a week about life in Peekskill. After a successful crowd funding campaign in 2020, the Herald was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in July of 2021. Peekskill Herald is a digital relative of the former print edition, featuring many of the favorite aspects of the beloved Peekskill Herald such as old pictures, personality profiles and well written stories about newsworthy events. Regina Clarkin is the editor and publisher of the site. Photo by Joe Squillante