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<\/p>\nSTATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 Heading into a play-in matchup with Petrides, Eagle Academy of Staten Island had never won a single Borough President Vito Fossella SIHSL Tournament game since the school was founded in 2014\u2014 but on Wednesday evening, coach Justin Spisto\u2019s squad certainly didn\u2019t play like it.<\/p>\n
Fueled by a dominant performance in the paint, Eagle cruised to an 80\u201353 victory over Petrides, physically overwhelming the Panthers from start to finish by scoring all 12 of their total points on close-range field goals and strong finishes at the rim.<\/p>\n
In fact, Eagle didn\u2019t connect on a single three-pointer in the first half and still carried a 36\u201324 lead into the break. Eagle found their shooting touch in the second half, however, knocking down four triples to cap off an exceptional offensive showing for their first-ever tournament win.<\/p>\n
Eagle\u2019s starting five also shared the scoring load evenly, with every starter reaching double figures in what was a remarkably balanced night for Spisto\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1\/19<\/p>\n
SISHL Tournament Play-In Game: Petrides vs. Eagle Academy<\/p>\n
Player of the Game: Armani Perez<\/p>\n
Senior Armani Perez was explosive for Eagle throughout the game, using his length to disrupt Petrides defensively and attack the rim with ease. He finished with 16 points in a well-rounded performance, including one of Eagle\u2019s rare three-pointers on the night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try to bring everything I can onto the court for my teammates,\u201d Perez said after the contest. \u201cI play defense, I grab rebounds\u2014 I do as much as I can to win games.\u201d<\/p>\n
His stats back up those claims. Entering the contest, Perez was averaging over 15 points per game while pulling down more than 5.5 rebounds, and after guiding Eagle to a historic win, the senior made it clear his play will be noticed by those unfamiliar with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m aggressive. I like driving to the paint, and I\u2019ll say it myself\u2014 I\u2019ve got hops. I can dunk,\u201d Perez said confidently. \u201cSo if you\u2019re under the rim, don\u2019t be surprised if I catch you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turning point<\/p>\n
Eagle led comfortably from start to finish, but Juneek Daniels provided a jolt of energy in the second quarter, igniting both his teammates and the bench. <\/p>\n
Drawing contact on buckets in quick succession, Daniels had the gym roaring \u201cAND ONE!\u201d and gave his squad all the confidence it needed to see the game through.<\/p>\n
HighlightsCoach Spisto\u2019s take<\/p>\n
Following Eagle\u2019s first-ever tournament win, Spisto called the moment \u201ca long time coming.\u201d When he took over the program four years ago, his squad had not won so much as a regular-season game, making the breakthrough all the more meaningful \u2014 and well worth the wait.<\/p>\n
Spisto also made sure to highlight Perez\u2019s impact, noting that the senior has been a varsity contributor for three seasons. \u201cHe\u2019s a staple player, and we wouldn\u2019t be here without him,\u201d Spisto said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t be more proud of these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Eagle\u2019s bruising, paint-first style of play, Spisto said it simply fits the personnel. \u201cWe have the players we need to be dominant inside,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s been our identity since I\u2019ve taken over,\u201d he added. \u201cWith our size and athleticism, we love taking high-percentage shots and crashing the offensive boards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next up<\/p>\n
While they\u2019ll undoubtedly savor the win, Spisto\u2019s squad now turns its attention to a second-round matchup against Staten Island Academy\u2014 a team that handed Eagle a 70\u201348 loss earlier this season. Spisto knows the challenge ahead, but believes his team is ready.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a very, very well-coached team,\u201d Spisto said. \u201cCoach Mike Mazella has done a terrific job. They\u2019ve come from a similar place to where we were \u2014 they got their first tournament win last year \u2014 so they\u2019re going to be disciplined, and it\u2019s going to be a tough, interesting matchup.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perez echoed his coach\u2019s confidence when discussing what it will take to upset the No. 5-seeded Tigers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe played them two weeks ago and lost,\u201d Perez said, \u201cbut this time we\u2019re going to come out with intensity and energy and play the way we did today. It\u2019s going to be a different ballgame.\u201d<\/p>\n
The contest between SIA and Eagle will be at 4:30 p.m. at Port Richmond High School on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Stats corner<\/p>\n
In addition to Perez\u2019s 16 points and seven boards, Justin Webley led the team with 18 markers, while Juneek Daniels added 17 points and 10 rebounds in a three-headed scoring performance.<\/p>\n
Javon Jordan contributed 13 points and Anthony Riley added 12 markers, eight assists and four rebounds, rounding out a high-scoring night for Spisto\u2019s starters.<\/p>\n
Dante Jones provided Eagle\u2019s lone bench scoring, finishing with four points.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 Heading into a play-in matchup with Petrides, Eagle Academy of Staten Island had never won…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-123414","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\/123414","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=123414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}