{"id":124747,"date":"2026-02-06T03:51:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T03:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/124747\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T03:51:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T03:51:26","slug":"new-dorp-uses-balanced-offensive-effort-big-second-half-to-get-by-csi-mccown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/124747\/","title":{"rendered":"New Dorp uses balanced offensive effort, big second half to get by CSI\/McCown"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 The New Dorp Centrals\u2019 offense lacked a single takeover player in their President Vito Fossella SIHSL Tournament win over CSI\/McCown on Thursday evening, but with Coach Pat Hopkins\u2019 goal being to produce assists up and down the lineup, that was exactly how he wanted it.<\/p>\n

Four New Dorp players combined for 55 points in a well-rounded effort as the Centrals got past their PSAL foe, 60\u201345, to advance to the tournament quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

The Centrals also took advantage of a much-improved second half to slay the Dragons. After leading just 23\u201321 at the break, they found a well-adjusted rhythm over the final two quarters, pulling away late to secure the win.<\/p>\n

Player of the Game: Elijah Pizarro<\/p>\n

With a 15-point effort, Pizarro might have just missed out on being the Centrals\u2019 high scorer on the night, but his role as point guard set the tone for ensuring that the team\u2019s offense was operating smoothly throughout the evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was focused on pushing the tempo, making sure I get all my teammates involved like I always do, and making sure I got my own because I set the tone for everybody. The energy, making sure I get downhill\u2014they weren\u2019t stopping me downhill, and you get everybody involved. That\u2019s really it,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n

The Centrals\u2019 PG knows that while he executed against the Dragons, both he and his teammates will need to find another level to take down upcoming opponent Monsignor Farrell, a foe he highlighted as an invigorating challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to make sure we come off not flat, make sure we\u2019re ready to play, because Farrell is a tough opponent. We got to be ready to play this game. We came out a little sluggish in the second half. We pushed it through. Gotta make sure we play like that the whole game,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Turning point<\/p>\n

Much like the Staten Island Academy Tigers<\/a>, who banked on buzzer-beaters to turn the tide, the Centrals had a similar moment.<\/p>\n

Just before halftime, Sergio Batista chucked up a prayer was set to fall short. But thanks to Vincenzo Fiorenza\u2019s heads-up thinking, he pulled the ball out of mid-air and into the basket\u2014 a field goal that prevented a halftime tie and gave New Dorp a lead that seemed to fuel their big second half.<\/p>\n

Highlights:Coach Hopkins\u2019 take<\/p>\n

ND head coach Pat Hopkins concurred that Fiorenza\u2019s big shot right before halftime was \u201ca great moment\u201d that helped to right the ship going into the second half.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came in the locker room with a little momentum, and the kids knew it. They needed to pick up the intensity, and that\u2019s exactly what they did. In the first few minutes of the third quarter, we built ourselves a little lead, and we never looked back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also shared that excellent ball-movement on the perimeter was paramount to the team, sharing that \u201cwe always have team goals and today was about getting assists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to move the ball, keep it moving and have multiple guys in double figures. We didn\u2019t really get quite as many as I wanted, but as long as [Elijah] gets in double figures, we\u2019re a tough team to beat,\u201d he concluded<\/p>\n

Next up<\/p>\n

With their victory, the Centrals will now tip-off against the No. 3-seeded Monsignor Farrell Lions in the quarterfinals this Saturday, set for 4:15 p.m. at Petrides.<\/p>\n

\"SIHSLNew Dorp’s Elijah Pizarro glides to the rim for 2 of his 15 points as No. 6 New Dorp tops No. 11 CSI\/McCown in the first round of the SIHSL playoffs held at Port Richmond High School on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Advance\/SILive.com | Jason Paderon)(Advance\/SILive.com | Jason Paderon)Stats corner<\/p>\n

In addition to Pizarro\u2019s 15 points, Sergio Batista led the team with 16, including four treys, while Joshua Carter (13) and Omari Onwe (11) rounded out New Dorp\u2019s evenly-paced quartet on the evening.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Stay tuned for a full photo gallery coming soon!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 The New Dorp Centrals\u2019 offense lacked a single takeover player in their President Vito Fossella…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124748,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-124747","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\/124747","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=124747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}