DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Monsignor Farrell bounced back from a tough opening-game loss in the Vince Carter Hall of Fame Classic to take down Winter Haven HS, 59-52, at Mainland HS on Tuesday.
The Lions well-balanced attack saw four of five starters reach double-figures led by senior swingman JJ Yates, who tallied a game-high 17 points. Ryan Hanley continued his steady play with 15 markers, while Matt Scalisi scored 13. Mike Abreu added 10 for the Oakwood school, now 6-5 overall.
“Scalisi did a great job defending their top scorer Gavin all game and JJ (Yates) hit back-to-back three’s to end the third and start the fourth that really gave us a lift,” said Farrell head man Danny Fisher. “Hanley also did a great job rebounding and exerting himself in the paint for us.”
Hanley tossed in eight points and Abreu six as the pace was quick in the opening period as the score was tied at 19 after the initial eight minutes. Dan Bailey netted 10 of his team-high 14 points in the first half and the teams hit the locker room at the intermission with Winter Haven holding a 31-30 lead.
Yates, who would knock down four threes on the night, got hot in the fourth quarter, scoring seven points and Scalisi chipped in with six as Farrell would put the clamps down defensively to outscore WH 21-11 to secure the victory.
Free-throw shooting was also key to the Lions’ victory as they canned 9 of 12 from the stripe on the afternoon.
“We’re really looking forward to a great second part of our season; we need to just keep competing and making winning plays to help us,” admitted Fisher. “Our league is so competitive and whoever makes more of those plays will usually come out on top.”
Moore Catholic point guard Nick DeGrado led the Mavericks with 16 points in a hard-fought 56-49 loss to Pennsbury HS at the Boardwalk Classic in Wildwood, N.J..(Advance/SIlive.com | Jason Paderon)
Pennsbury 56, Moore Catholic 49
WILDWOOD, N.J. — The Mavs went toe-to-toe with the tough Pennsylvania school, but a rough third quarter in which they were outscored 24-8 kept head coach Todd Byrnes club from pulling off the upset at the Crest Savings Bank Boardwalk Classic at the Wildwood Convention Center.
After toppling Abington Friends 60-55 in the tourney opener, Byrnes feels his veteran team may be finding its footing as the holiday break ends and his team prepares for the second half of the season.
“We definitely learned how to pay attention to the little things that can help us beat good teams for 32 minutes this weekend,” noted the first-year varsity mentor. We played well against good competition and in the first game we learned how to close out a game against a good team, something which we struggled with in the first half of the year. We did some good things overall and we’re looking forward to the second part of our schedule and continuing to get better as a team.”
Mavs senior point guard and recent Albright College commit Nick DeGrado had his strongest performance of the season with 16 points, while fellow senior and backcourt mate Matt Gibbons played his best game of the year, tallying 15 points on the strength of four triples. Junior Arion Draga added six off the bench for the 2-7 Mavs.
CSIM 54, Sunset Park 30
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Dragons closed out their holiday break with a convincing win at the MSIT Christmas Showcase in New Dorp.
Seniors Danny O’Connor (eight points, eight boards, seven assists) and Xavier Farley (eight points, eight boards) paced a balanced attack as the New Springville school edged closer to the .500 mark at 6-7 overall on the season.
The winners led from start to finish and also got solid play from Stanley Kushnir and Patrick Tucker, who split 16, and Daniel Zajonc and Fady Girgis who split 12. Mukeh Samura had five.
“This week’s tournament was huge for us,” quipped CSIM coach Danny Lee. “We were coming off a four-game losing streak where we had multiple players missing game’s due to the flu and injuries. We were finally able to get healthy and play at full strength.”
“I was excited to see the boys trust each other and really dig in at both ends of the floor. We are hoping these three games (two wins) can springboard us into 2026 as we try to reach our goal of a berth in the 3A playoff’s,” added Lee.
CSIM is back in PSAL 3A action Monday, Jan. 5 when they host Port Richmond at 6 p.m.
MSIT 61, Petrides 52
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Gulls (8-5 overall) capped a solid week of play as hosts of their Christmas Showcase with the win over the Panthers.
Charlie Donohue’s troops, which went 3-0, received a game-high 18 points from Ray Guerriero and 16 from Dalton Cherubin in the win.
Oliver Zoduwah (two threes) chipped in with nine, while Nizayah Jordan and Terence Legrand had seven and six, respectively.
Nick Lezoli’s Panthers were paced by the Daynell Rowland’s 16 marker’s and Kareem Nesbitt’s 12. Sonyboy Zintamus added eight.
Jordan and Cherubin each netted six points in the first period and Legrand had four, while Guerriero heated up in the second with eight as MSIT held a 31-26 lead at the break. Zoduwah’s eight points in the pivotal third quarter let the winners pull away with a 19-9 stanza.
MSIT is back on the hardwood Monday night at 6 p.m. when it visits neighborhood foe New Dorp in a big 3A test. ND currently sits in second place at 6-1, while the Gulls are a game back at 5-2. Tottenville is the division leader with a 6-0 mark.
The Panthers, meanwhile, host the first-place Pirates Monday at 6 as well.
St. Mary’s LI 75, Curtis 37
Makhiye Washington scored eight points, Jayden Melendez seven and William Johnson six, but it wasn’t enough as the Warriors fell.
The St. George school is back in action Tuesday when it visits Erasmus Hall in Brooklyn at 5 p.m.