STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — As he watched the clock wind down on his Xaverian squad’s 70-34 victory over St. Joseph by-the-Sea in the semifinals of the Girls JV AAA Playoffs, Varsity Head Coach Mark Spelman was filled with anticipation.

“This just became the biggest weekend in the history of our program,” said the Tottenville resident.

Just 24 hours earlier, with three Islanders in his starting lineup, his Clippers had knocked off Nazareth, 48-46, in the Brooklyn-Queens Varsity AAA semis. They will face Christ the King on Saturday night at the Royals’ gym in Middle Village, Queens, with the school’s first-ever Varsity Girls title on the line.

The JV contest is set for Sunday afternoon at Cardinal Spellman, where Xaverian will take on Nazareth.

“I’m very happy for all of our girls,” said Spelman. “They’ve worked so hard over the course of a very long season and it’s great to see their efforts rewarded.”

Led by a starting lineup featuring Islanders Isabella Grimaldi (CHSAA Third Team All-League), Casey McGinn, and Giuliana Bentivegna, as well as All-League guard Callie Mullin, Xaverian avenged two regular season losses to the Lady Kingsmen in their victory on Thursday. An even tougher task looms on Saturday night as they take on the top-seeded Royals on their home court.

“We’ve got our hands full,” said Spelman. “They have the league MVP in Josie Pinnock and their center, Olivia Vukosa, is going to play at Connecticut. We’ll have to play our best game of the season to win.”

The best game of the season is exactly what JV Head Coach Kasey Thatcher got from her charges against Sea as the undefeated, defending CHSAA AAA champs turned a first half nail-biter into a rout with a 47-13 blitz after intermission, punching their ticket to a second consecutive title contest.

“They were terrific in the second half,” said Thatcher of Castleton Corners, whose team led just 23-21 at the break. “The defensive intensity was through the roof. Tiffany gave us a huge lift.”

Thatcher was referring to Concord resident Tiffany Tetteviah, who stifled the Vikings on each foray into the paint throughout the second stanza.

“Tiffany is such a presence for us,” said Thatcher. “When she’s playing the way she did tonight, it allows everyone else to overplay the ball and pressure the opponent because they know, if they get beat, Tiffany is there to prevent a layup. She was terrific tonight.”

“At halftime, Coach told us we had to get the jitters out,” said Tetteviah. “When we came out in the third quarter, we started pressing them and turning them over and we just went from there.”

Led by sophomore Taylor Sorrentino’s 35 points and 11 more from Alexis Lapre of Dongan Hills, the Clippers ran their season record to 17-1 and now turn their attention to Nazareth.

“We’re going to have to make sure we’re in help-defense against them,” Lapre said of Nazareth. “Their bigs are very aggressive inside but, as long as we double team them in the paint, we’ll be all right.”

As for Thatcher, whose squad includes seven freshmen including Islanders Veronica Baillargeon, Ladream Walton, Addison Amanieros and sophomore Emily Schwarzrock in addition to Tetteviah and Lapre, this year’s playoff run is very different from a year ago.

“Last season, we pulled a huge upset in the semis over Sea to get to the finals. We were very much the underdog’” she said. “This season, we’re the ones with the target on our backs. We get everyone’s best game. It’s been great to see our girls rise to the occasion, especially since we’re so young. The one constant, though, is effort and teamwork. I love the way these girls support each other and work together. If we play our game on Sunday, I think they’ll be very happy.”