MANHATTAN — Staten Island Academy saw its season come to an end on Thursday as the Tigers dropped an 89-66 New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) B quarterfinal decision to Columbia Prep at the Spence School.
SIA (20-6) came into the tournament, which pits the top eight independent schools in New York against each other, as the No. 7 seed and No. 2 and undefeated Columbia Prep gave the Tigers all they could handle as they improved to 24-0 on the season.
The Tigers were led by Gabe Moschella’s 21 points, while Danny Nowak and Johnny Elefterakis added 11 apiece. Luke DeVito chipped in with seven markers.
SIA had no answer for CP’s Zack Wasserman in the first quarter, as the sophomore sharpshooter torched the nets for 15 of his game-high 24 points in the period.
A breakneck pace saw SIA matching the Lions’ firepower, as the Tigers, behind Moschella’s 13 first-quarter points, trailed 23-20 before a flurry of CP baskets in the last 2 1/2 minutes of the quarter allowed the Manhattan school to end the period on a 13-2 run, giving it a 36-22 advantage over the visitors.
“They are such a tough team to prepare for,” Tigers head coach, Mike Mazella, marveled. “The way they shoot the ball (five treys in the first quarter alone) is impressive, and their pace of play is so hectic. We actually did a good job breaking their press and getting several layups in the first quarter, but on the defensive end we were getting beat to every 50-50 ball and just weren’t getting any stops. When you score 22 points in the first quarter, you should have the lead, but instead we were staring at a large deficit.”
Things didn’t get much better for SIA in the second quarter as senior Jake Wasserman would connect for eight points to help expand the Lions’ lead to 19 at halftime.
In the third quarter, SIA’s offense went cold, and the relentless CP attack forced a host of Tigers turnovers, as the Lions put the game away with a 24-point explosion in the period. At times the Lions’ offense seemed unstoppable, as Sam Schiffman (22 points) and the Wasserman brothers proved too much for the Academy.
“Obviously, we knew coming in that they were a very talented offensive team and that we were going to have to play our best to match up with them. They’ve scored over 100 points in five games this year, and they’ve scored in the 90s on five other occasions. You can’t just key on Zack Wasserman, because his brother and their other players are knock-down shooters.”
Elefterakis would score eight points in the final period, including two three-pointers, while Shiv Thakkar and Johan Wielens combined for six points and six rebounds in the final quarter, as the Tigers battled until the end.
“I can’t say enough about the admiration I have for our team,” Mazella noted. “Coming down the stretch of our season and over the last five games, we’ve had two of our starters fighting through some really painful injuries, and when you’re playing the caliber of opponent that you’re going to see in the (SIHSL) Tourney, the ACIS postseason, and then the NYSAIS tourney, you really need to be at full strength. But we’ve battled throughout the year, and I couldn’t be prouder of our seniors and all the guys on this team. Getting 20 wins is quite an accomplishment, and for the first time since the NYSAIS tournament’s inception, we were selected as one of the top eight independent schools. So as disappointing as this loss might be, that’s something that these guys are going to look back on with great pride.”
In addition to two of their top scorers in Nowak and DeVito, the Tigers will say goodbye to fellow seniors Thakkar and Wielens, as well as Ayden Howe, Lorenzo Malpeso, and Jayden Ai.