STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Thanksgiving Eve is one of the top nights on the Staten Island sports calendar for a reason. It signals the opening of a new basketball season, where optimism springs eternal and a win usually means the turkey will taste that much better on Thursday.

Well, for Mike Cortese and his young St. Joseph by-the-Sea squad the carvings will sure to be pleasant as the Vikings went into hostile territory and gutted out a 60-47 lid-lifting triumph over Monsignor Farrell in front of a jam packed gymnasium in Oakwood.

The Vikings received a game-high 19 points from junior sharp-shooter Nick Rebracca, but also got several key contributions up and down the rotation.

1/70

Staten Island HS basketball: Thanksgiving Eve: Monsignor Farrell vs. St. Joseph Sea, at Farrell

Cortese’s slew of juniors all had a hand in the win as Nick Lee (12 points, four assists, two steals), Joe Moran (eight points, six boards), and John Paturzo (eight points, seven rebounds, five assists) turned in solid performances. Jack Boyle (eight boards, two steals), Colin Valenti (defense) and Luca Mineo (two treys) all came through in big spots for the winners.

Senior swingman JJ Yates led the Lions 16 points, while Mike Abreu (three rebounds, steal, block) and Matt Scalisi scored 11 and eight, respectively.

“1-0 turkey definitely tastes better than 0-1,” laughed Cortese, who has led the Vikings to back-to-back TGE wins over the rival Lions. “We talked about before the game how some games can sometimes be bigger than just the 18 guys on the bench and the season opener, Thanksgiving Eve is one of those nights. We have gotten a ton of love and support for the program and what we have been trying to build here and we saw that tonight.”

“It was a great crowd, we had a bunch of alumni here and Huguenot was well represented. It’s a great way to start the season against a very good, well-coached team,” added the 14th year mentor.

Things were tight over the first two periods as the two CHSAA A division foes got their feet wet in the 2025-26 season. Both squads made runs and the Lions hit the lockers with a 28-27 advantage on the heels of Abreu, who scored all 11 of his markers before halftime.

“We were happy where we were at the half, but we knew we could play better,” quipped Cortese. “The kids really have each other’s back and they have a ton of grit and it started to show in the second-half.”

Rebracca canned a pair of freebies to begin the third period to make the score 29-28 and from there the Vikings never trailed the rest of the way although the nip-and-tuck battle never saw their lead get passed five points until midway through the final period.

Valenti canned 1-of-2 from the line to make it 42-38 at the onset of the fourth and a Jack Gomez baseline runner got Farrell within two at 42-40, but that was as close as the Lions would get.

Lee drained left wing three and Yates answered it with his own bomb from the other left wing, but Paturzo scored inside, Rebracca had a put back and Boyle hit the biggest bucket of the game when Paturzo kept the play alive and found the junior alone at the top of the key for a back-breaking triple that gave Sea its biggest bulge of the game, 52-45 at the 2:50 mark.

Moran scored inside on back-to-back possessions off feeds from Lee and Valenti, and when the host team went cold from outside, Sea controlled the boards, limiting second shots to key the victory. Lee, Boyle and Valenti all hit free throws in the closing minutes to seal the deal.

“We’re a young team and haven’t been in this moment on varsity before, but we worked hard all summer together and it paid off tonight,” said Lee. “We’re a close team and we pull for each other. Many of us are friends and have been playing together a long time. We have a tough schedule and it’s a long season, but this gives us some good momentum.”

Farrell got out to quick start and when Yates converted a four-point play at the 3:30 mark of the opening stanza Farrell held its biggest lead of the game at 12-4. But Rebracca scored five straight points to close out the quarter and cut the lead to 14-11.

“Boyle made a big shot for sure, but we got a big lift from Valenti off the bench and Lee and Rebracca had solid game’s,” said Cortese. “Rebracca got to the rim and to the foul line a bunch and that is big. Him and Lee play well off each other. It’s a long season and we have some tough game’s coming up. We’re just trying to get better.”

***

NOTES: Sea won the battle of the boards, 25-21 … The Vikings committed seven turnovers, the Lions five … Yates led Farrell with five caroms, Scalisi had four … Farrell hosts Salesian, Saturday at 12:30 p.m., while the Vikings face off with St. John’s Prep in a matchup of last year’s A division title game in Huguenot at 11 a.m.