{"id":103228,"date":"2026-01-17T12:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T12:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/103228\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T12:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T12:20:09","slug":"staten-island-hs-boys-hoops-4-games-sias-danny-nowak-beats-the-clock-to-join-islands-1000-point-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/103228\/","title":{"rendered":"Staten Island HS boys\u2019 hoops (4 games): SIA\u2019s Danny Nowak beats the clock to join Island\u2019s 1,000-point club"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 The scoreboard made it obvious Staten Island Academy was going to secure its 15th consecutive win to start the season. That, first and foremost, was paramount.<\/p>\n

The only question remaining at that point was whether star guard Danny Nowak was going to join the Island\u2019s 1,000-point club before the game against St. Ann\u2019s ended. <\/p>\n

Nowak, who entered Friday\u2019s contest needing 17 points to reach the coveted mark, got within a point with exactly 59 seconds left. <\/p>\n

But the three-year varsity player couldn\u2019t cash in on a few chances and with time winding down, the tension was almost tangible. <\/p>\n

But this is Nowak we\u2019re talking about. He very rarely, if ever, disappoints and he wasn\u2019t about to let down the sizable crowd on hand.<\/p>\n

And he didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The senior guard, in fact, electrified SIA\u2019s faithful when he converted a pretty give-and-go pass from John Elefterakis into a basket with just 10.5 ticks on the clock. Nowak was fouled on the play, but even though he missed the free throw in an attempt to complete a three-point play, he accomplished his mission during a 66-56 ACIS triumph over the visiting Steamers in Dongan Hills.<\/p>\n

Nowak becomes the 19th SIA player to reach 1,000 points and the first since Ryan Cambria did it three seasons ago. In addition, he is the second Islander to eclipse the mark this season (MSIT\u2019s Nizayah Jordan was the first last Monday<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"EyeingStaten Island Academy guard Danny Nowak, left, is closely guarded by St. Ann’s Che Woods during Friday’s PSAL contest in Dongan Hills. Nowak scored the 1,000th point of his career during the game.(Advance\/SILive.com | Charlie De Biase Jr.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an honor. I came from a school where I didn\u2019t play a minute of a game and I never thought I\u2019d ever be in a situation like this,\u2019’ explained the soft-spoken Nowak. \u201dI got connected to SIA and it\u2019s been the best decision I\u2019ve made so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, reaching a thousand points has always been in the back of my mind, but this season, in particular, it\u2019s not the top priority for me,\u2019’ the 17-year-old continued. \u201dWe\u2019re 15-0 and that\u2019s my main focus right now.\u2019’<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just a tremendous player and an even better kid. He\u2019s the quintessential student-athlete here \u2014 student-body president, theatre production and probably the top scholar, if not the top, in his class,\u2019’ said SIA head coach Mike Mazella. \u201cTo (score 1,000 points) in 2 1\/2 years is incredible. He\u2019s not a three-point shooter, but he is a strong driver who succeeds through sheer will and determination on the court and his ability to get to the basket when defenses know that that\u2019s his go-to move is incredible.\u2019’<\/p>\n

Nowak\u2019s 18 points led the way for the Tigers, who also improved to 10-0 in ACIS play. Gabe Moschella and Luke DeVito added 17 apiece for SIA, which swept the season series from the Steamers.<\/p>\n

SIA saw a 17-point, third quarter lead whittle down to five (55-50) with just under three minutes to play. SIA was up six when DeVito knocked down his fourth and final trey and Nowak followed with a bucket in transition to up the hosts lead back to double digits (64-53) with under a minute to play in the game.<\/p>\n

With the win seemingly in hand and Nowak only a point away from reaching a grand, time was winding down when the Tigers went into four corners and Nowak found himself with the ball high on the right wing. <\/p>\n

He made a pass to Elefterakis in the right corner and immediately cut to the basket. Elefterakis returned the pass to Nowak, who drove to the rim and put the ball in with 10.5 ticks left in the game.<\/p>\n

\"PlayingStaten Island Academy’s Luke DeVito, right, guards St. Ann’s Mati Friedman-Villegas during Friday’s PSAA contest in Dongan Hills.(Advance\/SILive.com | Charlie De Biase Jr.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was getting a little nerve-wracking,\u2019’ laughed Nowak of time winding down. \u201dEveryone was cheering when I went to the free-throw line earlier and it\u2019s great to get that support.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really wanted something a little bit flashier. I was just hoping it wasn\u2019t a wide-open layup\u2019’ he admitted. \u201dBut I\u2019ll take an \u2018and-1.\u2019 It was a big weight off my shoulders when it happened. I was happy to get to that point. Hearing the crowd go crazy \u2014 it was the loudest crowd I ever heard in my life.\u2019’<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally we\u2019d be holding it out and letting the clock wind down, but we told him, \u2018you gotta go, you gotta go,\u2019’ said Mazella. \u201dLet\u2019s get it over right now so you don\u2019t have to go to bed thinking about it. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe scored on a heads-up play,\u2019’ the 22nd-year head coach added. \u201dWe figured he\u2019d hold it and they\u2019d foul him, but it didn\u2019t look like they were going to do that. So he gave it to (Elefterakis) and got it back. It went back to the basics of basketball. Pass and cut and that\u2019s how he should have got it \u2014 a strong drive to the basket.\u2019’<\/p>\n

Like so many other times before.<\/p>\n

NOTES: SIA owned a 39-33 lead early in the third quarter, but the Tigers got some separation shortly after they switched from man-to-man to a 2-3 halfcourt zone defense. The change, in fact, ignited an 11-0 run that was led by Ayden How and Moschella (four points apiece). DeVito\u2019s trey capped the run and helped give the hosts a 52-37 lead entering the fourth … Moschella, meanwhile, scored a pair of big interior buckets against St. Ann\u2019s extended 3-2 zone to help SIA pull away in the fourth. \u201cThose baskets by Moschella were huge,\u2019’ said Mazella. \u201dHe\u2019s a very versatile scorer for us. He\u2019s so active and strong, he drives and when he gets the ball near the basket, we feel pretty good.\u2019’ … St. Ann\u2019s was led by Odinn Broddason (13 points) and Mati Friedman-Villegas (12 points) … The Steamers won the battle of the boards behind Broddason (game-high 15 rebounds) and Friedman-Villegas (six). Nowak and DeVito grabbed nine and eight caroms, respectively, for SIA … The Tigers committed just eight turnovers, including three in the second half. St. Ann\u2019s turned it over 24 times … Nowak also drew an offensive foul for the Tigers.<\/p>\n

Junior varsity<\/p>\n

SIA 65, St. Ann\u2019s 47<\/p>\n

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 The Tigers ran their record to 7-4 with a ACIS home victory over St. Ann\u2019s on Friday. The win was the Tigers\u2019 fourth in a row and moved their ACIS league record to 6-3. <\/p>\n

Rob Esposito turned in another strong performance for SIA with 19 points, and Josiah Wheatley-Harewood added 17. Nate Wildrick, Sal Bongiorno and Patrick Sheehan all chipped in with eight while KP Pannell added five. <\/p>\n

Teddy Liodakis and Ryan Cruz excelled defensively for the Tigers.<\/p>\n

SIA 55, Avenues 52 (OT). <\/p>\n

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Wheatley-Harewood\u2019s twisting layup forced the extra period, as the two teams ended regulation tied at 46. <\/p>\n

A Rob Esposito jump shot gave SIA a 50-48 lead in the extra session, and then, after an Avenues basket tied the score, KP Pannell hit a left-wing trey to give the Tigers a three-point advantage. <\/p>\n

After another Avenues score, Patrick Sheehan made two clutch free throws before a three-point attempt by the visitors failed to connect.<\/p>\n

Sheehan led SIA with 14 points. Wheatley-Harewood added 13, while Esposito chipped in with 11. Nate Wildrick scored nine points and led SIA with eight rebounds.<\/p>\n

Susan Wagner 56, Elizabeth 45<\/p>\n

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Jayden Acea (21 points) was one of four players in double digits as the Falcons rolled to the non-league victory over the New Jersey school.<\/p>\n

Kyle Kyee (14 points), Kasyn Ford (11 points) and Jael Felipe (10 points) also contributed offensively for SW. <\/p>\n

Kyee had a three and was 7 of 8 from the line while Acea connected on 5 of 7 from the charity stripe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 The scoreboard made it obvious Staten Island Academy was going to secure its 15th…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-103228","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\/103228","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=103228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}