![\"Go-ahead](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/MSRHPIDBURC2BAJCEOR2QNQRR4.jpeg\")
CSI\/McCown senior guard Patrick Tucker prepares to take the go-ahead free throw with 1:21 seconds left in a SIHSL Tournament play-in encounter against visiting Port Richmond.(Advance\/SILive.com | Charlie De Biase Jr.)<\/p>\nSTATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 CSI\/McCown\u2019s one-time double-digit lead vanished by late in the third quarter, but the Dragons stayed the course and earned a 51-48 Borough president Vito Fossella SIHSL Tournament play-in victory over visiting Port Richmond Wednesday in New Springville.<\/p>\n
The Dragons fell behind 46-45 with under two minutes to play following back-to-back buckets by Port\u2019s Mekhi Hines. However, CSIM guard Patrick Tucker drew a foul while driving and calmly drained both freebies with 1:21 left to help the hosts regain the lead. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I step to the free-throw line, I don\u2019t think about anything,\u2019’ said Tucker, who entered Wednesday\u2019s game leading CSIM in scoring with a 10.8 ppg average. \u201dI line up and just do what I got to do. I worked hard all off-season and trust myself and I just did it for my team.\u2019’<\/p>\n
CSI\/McCown senior guard Patrick Tucker prepares to take the go-ahead free throw with 1:21 seconds left in a SIHSL Tournament play-in encounter against visiting Port Richmond.(Advance\/SILive.com | Charlie De Biase Jr.)<\/p>\n
The Dragons upped their lead to three when Xavier Farley converted a pretty feed from Danny O\u2019Connor into a bucket, but Syncere Holland hit a layup with 9.5 ticks left to again make it a one-point game (49-48).<\/p>\n
However, Stanley Kushnir provided the final score after burying two more freebies with one second left.<\/p>\n
Player of the game<\/p>\n
Senior Kushnir turned in a solid all-around performance as he not only paced the Dragons with 16 points, but also grabbed nine rebounds. He drew two charges as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know the team counts on me and we had to lock in and fortunately, all five guys on the floor contributed down the stretch,\u2019’ said Kusnir. \u201dI don\u2019t mind at all being the guy that takes the big shot in a close game. I want it to be me and I wasn\u2019t nervous at all.”<\/p>\n
CSIM power forward Farley, meanwhile, also turned in a big game as he finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots.<\/p>\n
Turning point<\/p>\n
Port Richmond trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half and were down seven at halftime when it outscored the Dragons 19-12 in the third quarter to forge a 39-39 tie entering the final eight minutes.<\/p>\n
However, Kushnir stemmed the tide and scored CSIM\u2019s first six points of the final period via two free throws, a right-wing jumper and a foul-line jumper in the first 4:08.<\/p>\n
Although the Raiders eventually regained the lead, Kushnir\u2019s quick start enabled the Dragons to stay close before they pulled it out late.<\/p>\n
Highlights<\/p>\n
After Holland\u2019s basket cut CSIM\u2019s lead to a point with 9.5 seconds left, the Raiders forced a turnover. They took the ball out in front of their bench with 6.8 ticks left and PR big Andrew Lawrence got the ball on the right block before turning and attempting a layup. But defenders Tucker and Kushnir did enough to prevent Lawrence from getting a clean look and Kushnir grabbed the rebound.<\/p>\n
Coach\u2019s take<\/p>\n
\u201cMy frame of mind the whole week was Port Richmond has been playing a lot better. I watched a lot of film on them and (Port Richmond\u2019s Jeremy Smalls) is a tremendous coach,\u2019’ said CSIM head coach Danny Lee, noting it was the Dragons\u2019 second tourney victory ever. \u201dThey had won (several games of late). They got several players back (from injuries) and I knew they\u2019d give us all we can handle because they\u2019re our rival.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew we were going to be in a dog fight, but what I love is our defense has been really good,\u2019’ the coach added. \u201dWe held them to 48 points. We\u2019ve been rotating in the zone, mixing in some man-to-man and obviously getting back Farley healthy \u2014 he\u2019s not 100 percent \u2014 but it\u2019s a huge lift.\u2019’<\/p>\n
Next up<\/p>\n
The No. 11-seeded Dragons, who improved to 12-12 overall, advance to the second round and will have little time to rest on their laurels. They\u2019ll meet No. 6 New Dorp on Thursday at Port Richmond HS beginning at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n
The winner of that game advances to Saturday\u2019s quarterfinals, where it will meet No. 3 Monsignor Farrell at Petrides (4:15).<\/p>\n
Stats corner<\/p>\n
O\u2019Connor and point guard Daniel Zajonc contributed 10 and nine points, respectively, for CSIM. PR was led by Aaron Bramble (game-high 19) and Hines (18) … Despite pulling out the victory late, the Dragons were outrebounded 57-33. The Raiders were led by Hines (game-high 14) and Aaron Bramble (12) … In addition to Kushnir, O\u2019Connor, Tucker and Fady Girgis also drew charges for CSIM … The Dragons were 9 for 12 from the free-throw line (Kushnir 4 for 4); the Raiders were 7 of 13 (Holland 2 for 2) … CSIM committed nine turnovers, PR 23.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 CSI\/McCown\u2019s one-time double-digit lead vanished by late in the third quarter, but the Dragons…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-123468","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\/123468","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=123468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}