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<\/p>\nSTATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 The Moore Catholic Mavericks, the BP Cup\u2019s No. 1 overall seed, nearly fell victim to the Cinderella SIA Tigers\u2014who have been playing tournament games since the play-in round\u2014but ultimately used a strong second-half turnaround to secure a razor-thin 64\u201362 win and advance to the final.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are always goals when we\u2019re down. We said, \u2018Let\u2019s cut it to four by the fourth quarter;\u2019 we ended up having a one-point lead by then, so we met our goal and then some,\u201d Moore HC Gene Henderson said of how the bench remained cool and collected despite a hefty challenge from the Tigers, who led 32\u201323 at halftime.<\/p>\n
Fueling the Mavericks\u2019 comeback was the sister duo of Mackenzie Felci (16 points) and Allie Felci (15 points), who finished as Moore\u2019s leading scorers on the night. Henderson said that, \u201cThey\u2019ve been together since birth and played a lot of basketball together; they know each other like the back of their hand. Today they came up big for us, and thank God we have them. I hate that we\u2019re losing them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Assessing her own performance, Mackenzie said that, \u201cTonight we knew that they were coming into this game hot; we knew that they were shooters and I tried my best to do what I could in the paint by trying to get rebounds and be as strong as possible so I could contribute for my team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were confident that our shots would start falling. We did our best on defense and picked it up after not starting the best at the beginning, getting beat by leaving three\u2019s open. We knew that if we could improve it\u2019d work since our defense usually leads to our offense,\u201d she also said of the mood on the Mavs\u2019 bench throughout the game.<\/p>\n
She may not have stuffed the stat sheet, but Henderson also pointed to the valuable contributions of Olivia Bruno-Dunn. After being held without a bucket in the first half, she scored nine points in the second, including a pair of clutch fourth-quarter free throws to help the Mavs escape.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Olivia came off the bench wonderfully; she\u2019s starter-level, but we have so much talent. She scored some baskets, hit a big three, brought a lot of high energy to the game, and did a really good job, including knocking down two free throws when we needed them most,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The same could be said for guard Emma Costanzo. After being held without a field goal in the first half, she finished with 11 points as the Mavs collectively found a way to right the ship down the stretch.<\/p>\n
With a date against a Sea team that has dominated the tournament this year confirmed, Henderson said that, \u201cWe have a big challenge ahead, but I think we\u2019ll be ready to play and hopefully have a good showing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think being the No. 1 seed and having time off hurt us a little bit. After getting this game in, we\u2019ll be looser, and I think we\u2019ll be better,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n
The championship game between the Mavericks and the Vikings is set for 5 p.m. Saturday at Petrides.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1\/20<\/p>\n
BP Cup Semis: Moore vs. SIA and Sea vs. Tottenville<\/p>\n
Sea 68, Tottenville 52<\/p>\n
The St. Joseph by-the-Sea Vikings are one win away from remaining the only team to capture the BP Cup in its third year contested, as coach Josh Suslak\u2019s squad comfortably defeated South Shore foe Tottenville in the second semifinal of the night.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels great. It\u2019s kind of where we wanted to be. You outline some destinations for your team early in the season and preseason, and as a returning champion, you want a chance to win it again. Not a lot to clean up, but happy to have the chance to play in another championship,\u201d the HC said after the contest.<\/p>\n
After letting St. Joseph Hill stay close in the first half of their quarterfinal matchup, the Vikings came out strong this time, opening a 23-8 first-quarter lead and extending it to 42-21 by halftime\u2014more than enough to put themselves on the way to a win.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we were a little sharper. Playing a good team like Hill, I think, got us ready. We had a good practice yesterday, and as a coach, you always feel that it feeds into the next game,\u201d Suslak said about how they reversed their slow start this time around.<\/p>\n
Leading the scoring charge for Sea was the dynamic guard duo of Olivia DiMonda (25 points) and Giovanna Grima (21 points), a combo that Suslak said has \u201cgrown, developed and improved their game every year they\u2019ve played together.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to rely on those seniors who have been there before. It\u2019s their turn this year. They had a lot of good players ahead of them over the last two years, and hopefully they learned from them and adapted it to their own game. Now you\u2019re seeing them find their own ways to perform,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to the highly anticipated all-CHSAA final, Suslak concluded, \u201cMoore\u2019s a very good team. They\u2019re well coached, and we know each other really well. They\u2019re deep, with kids who can get to the basket and others who can shoot. We\u2019ve got to play a sound all-around game, especially on defense, and rebound better if we want to beat them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 The Moore Catholic Mavericks, the BP Cup\u2019s No. 1 overall seed, nearly fell victim to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-117280","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\/117280","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=117280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}