STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Can anybody stop Grace Anderson and the Tottenville girls’ varsity hoops team?
It sure doesn’t seem that way as the Pirates, behind Anderson’s 25 points, 12 steals, seven assists and eight rebounds, stayed unbeaten after six game in the Staten Island PSAL 4A division by easily defeating Curtis — the Pirates’ closest competitor in the division — 71-41 Tuesday night on the road.
“Grace Anderson was tremendous for me tonight,” said Pirates head coach Jessica Althoff. “She filled the stat sheet … She really worked hard tonight on both ends of the court.”
The Tots had other contributors as well as Araya Lichtman scored 14 points, including four treys, and Kaylee Mackenzie, who recently came back from an ankle injury, added 13, including three behind the arc.
Maria Bello Osorio was huge for the Pirates on the boards, grabbing 10 rebounds in the first quarter and finishing the game with 13.
“Curtis is big and our inside presence needed to be there for us to be successful, and Maria was awesome tonight,” praised Althoff. “She’s a very unselfish player who knows her job when she steps on the court.”
The Warriors fell to 6-3 in the division. They have lost to Tottenville twice this season.
“Tough loss, but another one for the girls to grow on,” said Curtis coach Talia Sutton, whose team plays Friday at LaGuardia HS at 4:30 p.m.
As for Althoff’s girls, they look even better than the team which reached the semifinals of the PSAL 4A city playoffs a year ago but it’s still early in the season.
“I was very proud of how hard we played. We always know we have to bring the energy, especially going down to Curtis, because they always bring it,” said Althoff. “Always a great game and the girls know they must play hard for 32 minutes to solidify the win.”
The Pirates play Port Richmond Wednesday and Murry Bergtraum on Saturday, both at Tottenville.