STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.— The Moore Catholic Mavericks, the BP Cup’s No. 1 overall seed, nearly fell victim to the Cinderella SIA Tigers—who have been playing tournament games since the play-in round—but ultimately used a strong second-half turnaround to secure a razor-thin 64–62 win and advance to the final.

“There are always goals when we’re down. We said, ‘Let’s cut it to four by the fourth quarter;’ we ended up having a one-point lead by then, so we met our goal and then some,” Moore HC Gene Henderson said of how the bench remained cool and collected despite a hefty challenge from the Tigers, who led 32–23 at halftime.

Fueling the Mavericks’ comeback was the sister duo of Mackenzie Felci (16 points) and Allie Felci (15 points), who finished as Moore’s leading scorers on the night. Henderson said that, “They’ve been together since birth and played a lot of basketball together; they know each other like the back of their hand. Today they came up big for us, and thank God we have them. I hate that we’re losing them.”

Assessing her own performance, Mackenzie said that, “Tonight we knew that they were coming into this game hot; we knew that they were shooters and I tried my best to do what I could in the paint by trying to get rebounds and be as strong as possible so I could contribute for my team.”

“We were confident that our shots would start falling. We did our best on defense and picked it up after not starting the best at the beginning, getting beat by leaving three’s open. We knew that if we could improve it’d work since our defense usually leads to our offense,” she also said of the mood on the Mavs’ bench throughout the game.

She may not have stuffed the stat sheet, but Henderson also pointed to the valuable contributions of Olivia Bruno-Dunn. After being held without a bucket in the first half, she scored nine points in the second, including a pair of clutch fourth-quarter free throws to help the Mavs escape.

“I think Olivia came off the bench wonderfully; she’s starter-level, but we have so much talent. She scored some baskets, hit a big three, brought a lot of high energy to the game, and did a really good job, including knocking down two free throws when we needed them most,” he said.

The same could be said for guard Emma Costanzo. After being held without a field goal in the first half, she finished with 11 points as the Mavs collectively found a way to right the ship down the stretch.

With a date against a Sea team that has dominated the tournament this year confirmed, Henderson said that, “We have a big challenge ahead, but I think we’ll be ready to play and hopefully have a good showing.”

“I think being the No. 1 seed and having time off hurt us a little bit. After getting this game in, we’ll be looser, and I think we’ll be better,” he concluded.

The championship game between the Mavericks and the Vikings is set for 5 p.m. Saturday at Petrides.

1/20

BP Cup Semis: Moore vs. SIA and Sea vs. Tottenville

Sea 68, Tottenville 52

The St. Joseph by-the-Sea Vikings are one win away from remaining the only team to capture the BP Cup in its third year contested, as coach Josh Suslak’s squad comfortably defeated South Shore foe Tottenville in the second semifinal of the night.

“It feels great. It’s kind of where we wanted to be. You outline some destinations for your team early in the season and preseason, and as a returning champion, you want a chance to win it again. Not a lot to clean up, but happy to have the chance to play in another championship,” the HC said after the contest.

After letting St. Joseph Hill stay close in the first half of their quarterfinal matchup, the Vikings came out strong this time, opening a 23-8 first-quarter lead and extending it to 42-21 by halftime—more than enough to put themselves on the way to a win.

“I think we were a little sharper. Playing a good team like Hill, I think, got us ready. We had a good practice yesterday, and as a coach, you always feel that it feeds into the next game,” Suslak said about how they reversed their slow start this time around.

Leading the scoring charge for Sea was the dynamic guard duo of Olivia DiMonda (25 points) and Giovanna Grima (21 points), a combo that Suslak said has “grown, developed and improved their game every year they’ve played together.”

“We’ve got to rely on those seniors who have been there before. It’s their turn this year. They had a lot of good players ahead of them over the last two years, and hopefully they learned from them and adapted it to their own game. Now you’re seeing them find their own ways to perform,” he continued.

Looking ahead to the highly anticipated all-CHSAA final, Suslak concluded, “Moore’s a very good team. They’re well coached, and we know each other really well. They’re deep, with kids who can get to the basket and others who can shoot. We’ve got to play a sound all-around game, especially on defense, and rebound better if we want to beat them.”