STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Senior Eenej Vinson led a balanced attack with 15 points as Moore Catholic raced to an early lead before cruising to a 70-40 non-league victory over visiting Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Monday in Graniteville.
Nick DeGrado and Alexander Raphael added 14 and 10 points, respectively, for the Mavericks, who concluded the regular season with a 5-18 mark overall.
Moore will now direct its attention to the CHSAA A playoffs. The Mavericks will look to secure a spot into Saturday’s quarterfinals when they meet Monsignor McClancy in a play-in game on Wednesday at Xaverian HS in Brooklyn (5 p.m.).
If the Mavericks defeat the Crusaders, they’ll meet top-seeded St. John’s Prep in Saturday’s quarters at either Xaverian or Mount St. Michael in the Bronx.
On Monday, the Mavs rode the red-hot hand of senior DeGrado to a quick start. The three-year varsity player scored 11 first-quarter points on the strength of the first of his two three-pointers and a pair of conventional three-point plays.
Matt Mieles added six and Vinson and Raphael chipped in with four points apiece as Moore jumped to a 31-7 lead and cruised the rest of the way.
Hudson Catholic 77, Moore 55
JERSEY CITY — Mieles tallied a career-high 12 points, but the Mavs found themselves in an early hole and never recovered as they dropped the non-league decision to the Hawks on Friday.
DeGrado, Vinson and Matt Gibbons added eight points apiece for the Graniteville school.
Aston Graves (26 points) and Jaden Mason (14 points) paced the Hawks.
Graves, who finished with four three-pointers, connected for three behind the arc en route to 11 first-quarter points as Hudson raced to a 22-12 advantage at quarter’s end and never looked back.