{"id":134302,"date":"2026-02-15T12:59:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T12:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/134302\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T12:59:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T12:59:07","slug":"seas-nick-rebracca-goes-unconventional-in-joining-staten-islands-1000-point-club-during-sihsl-title-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/134302\/","title":{"rendered":"Sea\u2019s Nick Rebracca goes unconventional in joining Staten Island\u2019s 1,000-point club during SIHSL title game"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 St. Joseph by-the-Sea\u2019s Nick Rebracca only needed to score roughly half his points-per-game average entering Thursday\u2019s 32nd annual Borough President Vito Fossella SIHSL Tournament championship game against St. Peter\u2019s.<\/p>\n

And if you had to place a bet, chances are the high-scoring junior would reach the coveted mark by draining a three-pointer \u2014 he currently has 51 this season \u2014 or hitting a free throw since he is approximately a 90% shooter from the charity stripe.<\/p>\n

But on this night, you would have lost on that wager.<\/p>\n

Rebracca was actually retreating on defense when he made a steal at halfcourt in the third quarter. The three-year varsity player then pushed the ball toward the right baseline. With a sea of St. Peter\u2019s players converging on him, Rebracca pumped faked before freeing himself up for a 10-foot jumper in transition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really happy for him because that\u2019s obviously something we need him to keep adding to his game. Everybody knows he can shoot from the outside and that when he gets to the line, he\u2019s a 90% free-throw shooter,\u2019’ said Sea head coach Mike Cortese, who watched Rebracca finish with a game-high 18 points during the Vikings\u2019 48-37 title-game loss to St. Peter\u2019s <\/a>at Petrides HS in Sunnyside. \u201dBut I love the irony of it because that\u2019s something that he\u2019s adding to his game, getting out and using that mid-range form. It was nice \u2014 right in front of his parents (Christie and Steve) too. It had a nice snap shot moment to it and I\u2019m really happy for him.\u2019’<\/p>\n

\"MissionSt. Joseph by-the-Sea junior Nick Rebracca sprints back on defense after nailing a transition jumper that helped him eclipse the 1,000-point plateau during Thursday’s SIHSL Tournament championship against St. Peter’s.(Advance\/SILive.com | Jason Paderon)<\/p>\n

The Huguenot resident said he wasn\u2019t thinking about eclipsing the 1,000-point mark when he stepped in front of the pass and started dribbling the other way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really didn\u2019t envision how it would happen. It would have been cool if it was a three-pointer, but at the moment I was just looking to score and help my team win,\u2019’ acknowledged Rebracca.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty sure (on the play I scored), Peter\u2019s got the rebound and they were looking to (transition) against us. They made a pass and I was able to step in front of it on instinct. Then I just dribbled, dribbled before I was able to create my own shot. I used a pump fake, I was open and just shot it.\u2019’<\/p>\n

Rebracca, who needed just 10 points to reach 1,000 entering the game, became the ninth Vikings player to hit a grand. The junior, who currently has 1,008 markers, joins Devin Nicholson (1,342), Gerard Nicholson (1,255), Ed Pavia (1,214), Gregg Testaverde (1,150), Ryan Hennessey (1,073), Mike Kuhens (1,061), Joe Stabach (1,051) and Mike Matrangolo (1,001) on Sea\u2019s list.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obviously a great accomplishment to be with everyone else who (scored 1,000 points) and a lot of it was just me staying focused and determined because it\u2019s obviously been a big goal for me,\u2019’ said Rebracca. \u201dMy teammates and coaches were helpful to me during the process and I\u2019m thankful for them. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing to me is winning the whole entire year and it still is. I\u2019m hoping to get a championship in the (CHSAA A division playoffs), but it was great to achieve this goal.\u2019’<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re proud of Nick. The whole program is proud of him and I know he\u2019s appreciative of all the guys who helped him along the way \u2014 the guys who got him the ball and believed in him from the time he was a freshman,\u2019’ added Cortese. \u201cWe\u2019re definitely proud of his accomplishment, but this is also a program accomplishment and I know all of his teammates, former and current, are very proud of him.\u2019’<\/p>\n

Rebracca, of course, had enough pressure competing in a championship game and knowing St. Peter\u2019s was going to throw everything at him but the kitchen sink in an effort to stop him.<\/p>\n

The Eagles turned in a strong first half defensively, but the 6-foot-4 Rebracca scored 16 points after halftime, including a 9-for-9 effort from the free-throw line.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere had to be some pressure, we\u2019re humans. He\u2019s a junior in high school, how can there not be pressure?\u2019’ said Cortese. \u201dTen is a tough number, right? Eleven was his low (this season) and, if anything, it\u2019s a motivator for the defense. No excuses, but it\u2019s definitely a mental challenge for him, but there were zero talks about it in the locker room. Nobody brought it up. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t help that he\u2019s playing one of the toughest defenses on the Island, but it had it\u2019s mental challenges,\u2019’ the coach added. \u201dOnce the second half comes, it\u2019s nice as a coach to be pacing on the sideline and thinking about what\u2019s next instead of the ball going through the hoop (as a team). He was comfortable, especially going to the free-throw line.\u2019’ <\/p>\n

\"1,000-pointSt. Joseph by-the-Sea’s Nick Rebracca, left, who currently has 1,0008 career points, believes No. 3-seeded Vikings can make a run in the upcoming CHSAA A division playoffs.(Advance\/SILive.com | Jason Paderon)<\/p>\n

Rebracca said he was aware he was close to the mark, but wasn\u2019t dwelling on it. His main concern was helping the Vikings beat St. Peter\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing into it, I knew I was close, but (getting to 1,000 Thursday) wasn\u2019t my direct goal,\u2019’ the 18-year-old said matter-of-factly. \u201dMy direct goal was to win the game. And then I wanted everything else to fall into place and let the game come to me.\u2019’<\/p>\n

Rebracca is confident the Vikings, who have one last regular-season game Wednesday against New Dorp, can make a run in the city playoffs. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to keep moving forward and stay focused,\u2019’ he said. \u201dObviously, we had a tough loss, but you got to keep moving forward and just try your best when you get to the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 100% think we\u2019re capable of making a run. We\u2019re very good at defending. In the Peter\u2019s game we came out very slow on offense, but still contained them for the most part and I think we will continue that. We\u2019ll look to push the pace and get out in transition. We\u2019re gritty, tough and close and I think we\u2019ll be fine.\u2019’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 St. Joseph by-the-Sea\u2019s Nick Rebracca only needed to score roughly half his points-per-game average…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-134302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134302","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=134302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}