![\"Rebound](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SI7PNLQIL5HEHED4524J2GVUHA.jpg\")
St. Peter’s Ryan Freeman (11) is flanked by St. Joseph by-the-Sea’s Matthew Walker, left, and Joey Moran as they await a rebound during Thursday’s CHSAA Staten Island encounter in New Brighton(Kara Buzga for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\nSTATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Hollywood couldn\u2019t have scripted it any better for St. Peter\u2019s Nico Parlanti.<\/p>\n
The Eagles celebrated Senior Night on Thursday and as fate would have it, Parlanti was the lone 12th grade player recognized prior to St. Peter\u2019s CHSAA Staten Island encounter against St. Joseph by-the-Sea.<\/p>\n
But the pre-game ceremonies weren\u2019t the only place the two-year varsity player would shine.<\/p>\n
Parlanti poured in a career-high 21 points, including the go-ahead jump shot with just 5.8 seconds remaining as the Eagles held on for a heart-stopping 57-56 victory over the visiting Vikings in New Brighton.<\/p>\n
Parlanti\u2019s heroics overshadowed an outstanding performance from Sea junior Nick Rebracca, who finished with a game-high 26 points, including four three-pointers and a 6-for-7 performance from the free-throw line.<\/p>\n
The sharp-shooting Rebracca got one last look, but the jumper was off the mark as the final buzzer sounded in front of a jam-packed St. Peter\u2019s gymnasium.<\/p>\n
St. Peter’s Ryan Freeman (11) is flanked by St. Joseph by-the-Sea’s Matthew Walker, left, and Joey Moran as they await a rebound during Thursday’s CHSAA Staten Island encounter in New Brighton(Kara Buzga for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n
The Eagles, who won for the third time in four games, improved to 5-8 overall, including 3-2 after opening the CHSAASI season with back-to-back losses to Monsignor Farrell and Sea last month. Sea fell to 10-6 overall, including 3-1 in the Island division, but controls its own fate for the Island division crown with two games remaining against Moore Catholic and Farrell.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very pleased with the focus and effort. We talk a lot about next-play mentality and riding the highs and lows and we knew (Sea) was going to throw a punch because (Sea head coach Mike Cortese) does a great job with his team,\u2019’ said SP head coach Ryan Woods. \u201dFortunately, we were able to throw one back at the end of the game. I\u2019m very happy with the resiliency that we showed tonight.\u2019’<\/p>\n
Parlanti\u2019s late three and free throws helped the Eagles build a game-high, nine-point lead (41-32) late in the third quarter. The hosts carried a 42-35 advantage into the final eight minutes.<\/p>\n
But, not surprisingly, the Vikings refused to go quietly and although Rebracca had a hand in the Huguenot school\u2019s comeback, it was fellow junior John Paturzo (career-high 19 points) who spearheaded a 16-3 run.<\/p>\n
Paturzo, in fact, scored eight points on mostly drives and pull-ups in the paint and after Rebracca nailed a pair of freebies, he converted a fast-break layup off a turnover to help give Sea a 45-39 lead with just 3:39 to go.<\/p>\n
St. Peter\u2019s didn\u2019t hit the panic button.<\/p>\n
![\"Making](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MPYIYGS5BFHZPHGO4LOKEZ5F5M.jpg\")
St. Peter’s center Tyler Schoenberg (with ball) looks to make a move to the basket while being defended by St. Joseph by-the-Sea’s Joey Moran during a CHSAA Staten Island encounter on Jan. 15, 2026.(Kara Buzga for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest thing, before the game, we huddled up with coach hammer (assistant Mike Sanborn) and the first thing he tells us is they\u2019re going to go on runs, we\u2019re going to go on runs and we just can\u2019t let their runs be bigger than our runs,\u2019’ said sophomore center Tyler Schoenberg, who finished with 15 points. \u201dWe just had to make sure we responded. We knew we had to keep playing on.\u2019’<\/p>\n
Schoenberg, in fact, ignited an 8-0 run in a two-minute span thanks to an interior bucket. Junior Ryan Freeman then connected for back-to-back baskets \u2014 including a short jumper in transition \u2014 that tied the score at 51-51. Cortese signaled for time with 2:26 left.<\/p>\n
Parlanti\u2019s baseline jumper off an inbounds play gave the Eagles a two-point lead with 1:29 left, but Joey Moran responded with a driving layup just 12 seconds later to once again tie the score (53-53). <\/p>\n
The seesaw battle continued in the final minute as Schoenberg converted a Parlanti interior feed into a layup. But a short time later, following an in-possession time out by Cortese, Rebracca buried a left-wing trey to put Sea back on top (56-55) with 21 seconds on the clock.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Rebracca) is a great shooter \u2014 a great player \u2014 and he had another excellent night against us,\u2019’ praised Woods.<\/p>\n
![\"Sharp-shooter\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/K4TIRWXEBZF4VP4OZFOH3LE3H4.jpg\")
Junior sharp-shooter Nick Rebracca of St. Joseph by-the-Sea prepares to unleash a right-win jumper against St. Peter’s on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. Rebracca finished with a game-high 26 points, including four three-pointers.(Kara Buzga for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n
But after another time out, it was the Eagles who were lining up for an inbounds play under the left side of Sea\u2019s basket with 11.6 ticks left. Sophomore Noah Scott took the ball out and immediately hit Schoenberg with a pass on the right wing. Parlanti, meanwhile, curled off a screen from the top of the key before receiving a pass from Schoenberg just outside the paint.<\/p>\n
The senior immediately pulled up and nailed a 10-foot jumper with just 5.8 seconds remaining. The Eagles owned a 57-56 advantage and Cortese called one last time out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just looking to get the best shot possible,\u2019’ said Parlanti. \u201d(The guy guarding me) got clipped behind me, so I curled like coach told me to do. I got off the shot and saw it go in. <\/p>\n
\u201cOnce it left my hand, I thought it was good,\u2019’ he added. \u201dIt just feels great to do it for my team. We\u2019ve worked every day for this and finally it\u2019s finally paying off. I\u2019m just so happy that.\u2019’<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a play we put in recently and we\u2019ve had some success with it,\u2019’ explained Woods. \u201dTyler made a great pass on a curl and we executed it.<\/p>\n
![\"Battle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/A4KA457TBZHALDUD5EE2TUTZ64.jpg\")
A host of players from St. Peter’s (gold uniforms) and St. Joseph by-the-Sea (blue uniforms) battle for a rebound during a CHSAA Staten Island encounter on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026.(Kara Buzga for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n
\u201cNico hit a tremendous shot,\u2019’ the coach said. \u201dI couldn\u2019t be happier for a senior on Senior Night to bang that shot. There\u2019s nobody more we want taking it. He knew it was coming. We set two good screens and I\u2019m really proud he hit it \u2014 I couldn\u2019t be more proud for a good kid and good player.\u2019’<\/p>\n
The Eagles, however, needed one last defensive stop and it wouldn\u2019t come easy. Paturzo took the inbounds and immediately raced up the right side against token pressure. As several Eagles converged on the heady guard, he rifled a pass to Rebracca in the left wing.<\/p>\n
Sea\u2019s sharp-shooter needed to double clutch as defender Sean Gannon closed out on him, but he got off a jumper. The shot bounced high after hitting the front of the rim as time expired.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were physical and smart on Sea\u2019s last possession,\u2019’ said Woods. \u201dWe didn\u2019t give Rebracca too much room. I thought (Gannon) did a great job on the close-out and thankfully the shot was short.\u2019’<\/p>\n
NOTES: Parlanti connected for a season-high three three-pointers and was 4 for 4 from the charity stripe … Freeman chipped in with eight points for SP, including six after halftime … Both teams did a superb job taking care of the ball. Sea committed six turnovers (none in the fourth quarter) while St. Peter\u2019s had eight (one in the final period) … St. Peter\u2019s won the battle of the boards 29-23 behind Aaron Vazquez (eight), Schoenberg (six), Scott (five) and Freeman (five). Moran (seven) and Rebracca (four) paced Sea … The Vikings finished 6 for 9 from the free-throw line; the Eagles were 9 for 13 … Both teams used 10 players.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Hollywood couldn\u2019t have scripted it any better for St. Peter\u2019s Nico Parlanti. The Eagles…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102217,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-102216","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}