With the Borough Cup Tournament less than a month away, the public got a teaser for the tourney in the Battle of Huguenot.
Pitting CHSAA AAA team St. Joseph by-the-Sea against PSAL 4A program Tottenville in the biggest regular-season Island interleague contest, many wondered who would take home the win (hence the SRO crowd in Sea’s gym, on the night before New Year’s Eve no less.)
And, in the end, it was the Vikings who won big.
Olivia DiMonda, scoring 19 points and recording two steals, led Sea to a 74-43 non-league victory over the Pirates Tuesday night. Giovanna Grima added in 16 points for the home team while Alicia Conti, recording a career-high 15 points, had a double-double with 12 rebounds, two steals and a block.
Brooke Molloy (five rebounds, steal) and Lila Goldstein combined for 11 points.
Improving to 5-3 overall, Sea head coach Josh Suslak lauded the play of DiMonda, Grima and Maria O’Connell (four points, nine rebounds) for their efforts in generating plays on both ends of the court.
St. Joseph by-the-Sea versus Tottenville High School on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. Olivia DiMonda hits one of her three treys. (Annie DeBiase for the Advance/SILive.com)(Annie DeBiase for the Advance/SILive.com)
“We’re only going to go as far as those three girls can take us, especially with a young team and players still learning their roles and finding their place here,” said Suslak of his senior captains. “But, when those three are moving the ball well and making good decisions, that’s when I think we could be tough to beat.”
Falling to 7-2 overall, Tottenville was led by Grace Anderson (13 points, four rebounds, steal) and Brianna Ardolic (10 points, three rebounds, steal). Gabriella Ortiz (four caroms, steals) and Araya Lichtman (five rebounds) combined for 12 markers.
The visitors started the game hot, forcing a Sea turnover on its opening possession and four different Pirates finding the hoop for an 8-1 run. However, on the strength of a conventional three-point play from Conti and a layup from Grima, Sea quickly made up its deficit.
St. Joseph by-the-Sea versus Tottenville High School on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. Grace Anderson goes up for a trey. (Annie DeBiase for the Advance/SILive.com)(Annie DeBiase for the Advance/SILive.com)
While play went back and forth for the remainder of the quarter, with a trey apiece from Lichtman and DiMonda, Tottenville quickly became plagued with foul trouble. Sea went to the free-throw line nine times, with Conti going 6 for 7 and DiMonda 7 for 9 (fouled while attempting a trey.)
Conti, in particular, sparked Sea on both ends of the court when it struggled to get going. The freshman starter grabbed six of her game-high 12 rebounds in the stanza while adding ten points, helping the home team take a 28-16 lead into the second quarter.
According to Suslak, while Conti has been a “double-double machine” this season, he was most impressed with her starting to find the basket and scoring off her offensive rebounds.
St. Joseph by-the-Sea versus Tottenville High School on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. Sea’s Alicia Conti posts up under the hoop as Tottenville’s Maria Bello-Osorio (partially hidden) defends. (Annie DeBiase for the Advance/SILive.com)(Annie DeBiase for the Advance/SILive.com)
“We put a lot on her shoulders, but we take a lot of pride in developing our younger players and she’s really taken [to the pressure],” said Suslak. “She does the things you can’t teach, like attacking the ball and rebounding with tenacity. What she does to give us an edge on the 50/50 ball is huge.”
In the second stanza, Sea quickly found its groove on both ends of the court. While Anderson fought to keep the Pirates in the game with eight points, a stifling man-to-man defense subdued any hopes of Tottenville making another run.
St. Joseph by-the-Sea versus Tottenville High School on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. Giovanna Grima had 16 points for the Vikings. (Annie DeBiase for the Advance/SILive.com)(Annie DeBiase for the Advance/SILive.com)
DiMonda, with seven points (two treys), led a balanced effort for the Vikings to take a 46-28 advantage into the lockers. Grima added six points while O’Connell scored all her markers in the quarter.
With a “hand down, man down” philosophy, DiMonda shifted the game’s momentum in Sea’s favor for good. Also tasked with guarding Anderson, the senior held the guard scoreless in the first and last quarters of the game.
“Basically, if [the defender’s hand] is down, I just shoot the ball,” said the senior. “Those two threes were a momentum-changer, but we [also] came together as a team and had more people scoring and swinging the ball.
“We’re a really fast team, so we tried to slow them down and just picked up the pace in the second quarter.”
St. Joseph by-the-Sea versus Tottenville High School on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. Olivia DiMonda pushes the ball upcourt. (Annie DeBiase for the Advance/SILive.com)(Annie DeBiase for the Advance/SILive.com)
“With a player like Olivia, you can’t strap a saddle on a Mustang – you just have to let her go,” laughed Suslak. “I’ve held my breath on some wild ones she takes and we’re still trying to rein her in, but [today] she played within herself and hit a couple big threes for us.
“On the defensive end, taking out Grace was her No. 1 objective. You can’t let a player of that caliber get hot, so what Olivia did was big for us and it’s exactly what I expected from her.”
Sea coasted the remainder of the contest, only allowing Tottenville to score 15 points in the second half. While a number of Vikings found the scoring column, Grima and Molloy (two treys) scored six apiece.
Next up, St. Joseph by-the-Sea will ring in the New Year with a league contest at St. Francis Prep on Jan. 3 while Tottenville will look to regroup on the 4th against Spotswood HS in the NY/NJ Staten Island Challenge at Moore Catholic HS.
St. Joseph by-the-Sea versus Tottenville High School on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. Araya Lichtman (middle) attempts to get through the defense of Sea’s Isabella Castania (left) and Giovanna Grima. (Annie DeBiase for the Advance/SILive.com)(Annie DeBiase for the Advance/SILive.com)