STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — You’ve surely heard of the basketball theory that every big man wants to handle the ball and every guard fantasizes about posting up, right?
Well, Susan Wagner point guard Chris Albano bided his time Tuesday while Curtis primarily played a 2-3 halfcourt zone.
But when the Warriors tried to produce a spark by switching to man-to-man, the 6-foot-2 Albano’s eyes bulged.
“I had a smaller defender and I wanted to take advantage‚’’ explained Albano. ”They had been playing zone the whole game, but the first time they went man, I posted him up and scored.
“I like playing with my back to the basket a little bit,’’ laughed the three-year varsity player. ”Again, I was just trying to take advantage of the situation.’’
In many ways, he did all night.
Albano scored a game-high 21 points and teammate Charles Gambino turned in a herculean double-double as the Falcons registered a 64-46 PSAL 4A Brooklyn-Staten Island II division victory over the host Warriors in St. George.
Albano turned in an excellent floor game while Gambino recorded 12 points and an 18-rebound performance that spearheaded an eye-popping 45-25 advantage on the backboards against the bigger Warriors.
Adem Djonbalic and sixth man Yusaf Daramy chipped in with nine points apiece as Wagner improved to 4-0 overall, including 1-0 in league play.
Junior guard Makhiye Washington paced the Warriors (0-3) with 19 points.
“It’s absolutely a big deal to win a game like this,’’ said SW head coach Danny Lanigan. ”Anytime you play on the road, especially in our division, it’s a bigger challenge. Last year, we were 0-4 on the road and 4-0 at home in the division, so this is our first win in two seasons on the road.
“We knew this was one we wanted to have because we want to start the season strong. We had three decent non-league games to tune us up for this and we felt pretty comfortable where we stood coming in here in terms of the match-up and we know it’s going to be tough in two weeks when they come to our place.’’
“I thought we played well as a team, but also brought a lot of toughness,’’ added Gambino, who’s a two-year starter for SW. ”We battled, non-stop, offensively and defensively against a bigger team because we really wanted it tonight.’’
The Falcons, who owned a 15-3 advantage on the backboards in the second quarter, were clinging to a 22-18 lead when they staged a game-changing 11-0 run in a 2:07 span late in the first half.
Susan Wagner’s Charles Gambino, right, makes a pass around Curtis’ Jayden Faulkner during Tuesday’s PSAL 4A Brooklyn-Staten Island II division encounter in St. George.(Advance/SILive.com | Charlie De Biase Jr.)
Gambino took center stage during the run, beginning with a put back, then a bucket in transition off a pretty feed from Albano. After Daramy converted another offensive rebound into a basket, Gambino scored off a drive in the lane before Jimmy Eisenhardt capped the run with a right-corner trey with 53 ticks left.
Curtis’ Jayden Faulkner broke the spell with his own put back with 38 seconds left, but when Daramy scored off an Albano pass with four ticks left, the Falcons owned a commanding 35-20 lead at intermission.
“Size really doesn’t matter when it comes to rebounds,’’ said Gambino, who had nine caroms in each half. ”It’s your heart and non-stop fighting for the ball — it doesn’t matter if you’re 7-foot or 6-foot, like me. It doesn’t matter, if you keep fighting for it, (the rebounds) will come.’’
“I think we’re accustomed to (these situations),’’ added Lanigan. ”We’ve been undersized since we joined this league and the majority of our rotation guys were with us last year. Even some of the guys who were JV players … playing in that league, you’re playing against huge, huge dudes and if you worry about the tape measure, it’s going to be difficult.
“But if you just go in there and play with toughness on the boards, you’ll be successful.’’
The Falcons never took their foot off the gas. They had a 45-28 lead with just over 3:00 to play in the third when they went on a 9-3 Albano-led run to take complete control. Albano, in fact, posted up and scored twice during the spurt, including a three-point play that upped the lead to 54-31 and they never looked back.
NOTES: Starters Darin Humes-James (seven points) and Clevi Hoxha played valuable minutes throughout for the Falcons … In addition to Gambino, Daramy (nine), Djonbalic (five) and Albano (four) contributed on the boards. Faulkner paced the Warriors with seven … SW committed just eight turnovers, Curtis 10 … The Falcons finished with seven treys, including two each by Albano and Djonbalic … Wagner was 7 for 11 from the free-throw line (Albano 3 for 3), Curtis was 8 for 16 (Washington 7 for 10) … The teams meet again in Sea View on Dec. 16.