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St. Peter’s senior forward Nico Parlanti, seen above shooting the ball, averaged 16.3 points in three SIHSL Tournament games last week.(Advance\/SILive.com | Jason Paderon)<\/p>\nSTATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 St. Peter\u2019s won its unprecedented eighth consecutive Borough President Vito Fossella SIHSL Tournament championship last Thursday, but it didn\u2019t come without trials and tribulations this season.<\/p>\n
The No. 2-seeded Eagles, who defeated No. 4 St. Joseph by-the-Sea, 48-37, at Petrides HS, started the season 2-7 overall and suffered a few lopsided losses to some of the CHSAA AA city powers along the way.<\/p>\n
In addition, head coach Ryan Woods\u2019 squad suffered back-to-back CHSAA Staten Island losses to the Vikings and Monsignor Farrell during the first two weeks of December.<\/p>\n
St. Peter\u2019s, however, reeled off 6 of 7 wins in January with the lone defeat coming against perennial powerhouse Iona Prep in overtime.<\/p>\n
The Eagles, who are now 8-2 against Island competition, bounced back enough to land the No. 2 seed and earning a double bye in the 32nd annual tourney. They defeated McKee\/Staten Island Tech, Farrell and Sea to earn their Island-leading 39th SIHSL crown, including 16th in tourney play.<\/p>\n
How\u2019d it happen?<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s five reasons why the John Singleton Trophy will spend at least the next year back at the New Brighton school:<\/p>\n
*****<\/p>\n
St. Peter’s senior forward Nico Parlanti, seen above shooting the ball, averaged 16.3 points in three SIHSL Tournament games last week.(Advance\/SILive.com | Jason Paderon)<\/p>\n
*Nico Parlanti: The two-year varsity player went from sixth man role player a year ago to the lone returnee with any type of experience on the varsity level for the Eagles. He landed a starting spot right from the start and by mid-season, he was the only senior on the roster. <\/p>\n
But as the season grew older, he obviously became more comfortable as a go-to player. Parlanti averaged 10.9 ppg in SP\u2019s first 11 games, but averages 14.7 ppg in the last 12, including 10 games in double digits and four contests with 20-or-more points.<\/p>\n
In addition, after connecting on just eight three-pointers in SP\u2019s first 11 games, he has buried 24 in the last 12 contests, including seven of two-or-more. After finishing with only four last season, Parlanti has 32 treys including several big ones during crunch time.<\/p>\n
Parlanti averaged 16.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game with nine three-pointers in three tourney games en route to Tony Rafaniello MVP honors. The senior also drew a team-leading four charges.<\/p>\n
*Aaron Vazquez: The 6-foot-4 power forward sat out his entire sophomore season after transferring from Moore Catholic, then missed the entire preseason and the Eagles\u2019 first three games because of a fractured elbow.<\/p>\n
He returned in mid-December and gave St. Peter\u2019s another legitimate interior presence as a scorer and rebounder. <\/p>\n
He is averaging 8.7 ppg. and has come through with big buckets during crunch time as evidenced by his go-ahead basket in the waning seconds of SP\u2019s 52-51 win over Bishop Loughlin.<\/p>\n
Vazquez averaged 10.3 points and 7.3 rebounds in three SIHSL Tournament games en route to All-Tourney honors.<\/p>\n
*Daunting schedule: Although the Eagles finished 2-8 in CHSAA AA play this season, playing the likes of Archbishop Stepinac, Cardinal Hayes, St. Francis Prep and St. Raymond\u2019s undoubtedly helped them prepare for the tourney.<\/p>\n
SP did record wins against Archbishop Molloy and Loughlin and lost overtime contests to both Iona Prep and Xaverian.<\/p>\n
*Youthful exuberance: The majority of St. Peter\u2019s 10-man rotation are juniors and sophomores who made their varsity debut this season.<\/p>\n
The juniors include starters Vazquez and Victor Baez, sixth man Ryan Freeman, as well as Sean Gannon and Christian Wiese.<\/p>\n
The sophomores, meanwhile, include two starters: center Tyler Schoenberg and point guard Noah Scott, both of which played prominent roles in the tourney. Scott, in fact, had the go-ahead three-point play during the semifinal win over Farrell and was named to the All-Tourney team.<\/p>\n
Point guard A.J. Troia and sharp-shooter Ryan Christie are also sophs who round out the rotation.<\/p>\n
The youngsters and first-time varsity players went through some growing pains over the course of the season, but they gained enough experience that had them ready for tourney play.<\/p>\n
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St. Peter’s sophomore Tyler Schoenberg (22) blocked five shots during the SIHSL Tournament championship game against St. Joseph by-the-Sea last Thursday.(Advance\/SILive.com |Jason Paderon)<\/p>\n
*Superb defense: The Eagles didn\u2019t do anything radical defensively. But in keeping with program tradition, they primarily played a halfcourt, man-to-man D and do so well.<\/p>\n
Baez is a lock-down defender who usually matches up against the opposition\u2019s top guard or forward. Parlanti is equally effective as a shut down defender, but the Eagles\u2019 coaching staff likely prefers to not tax its best offensive player.<\/p>\n
St. Peter\u2019s doesn\u2019t lose much, if anything, with Gannon and Wiese coming off the bench.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-5 Schoenberg has already developed into a legit shot blocker as evidenced by his five blocks in championship.<\/p>\n
The Eagles, who held Sea to only seven first-half points in the title game, limited the opposition to 46.6 points and 3.3 treys per game in three tourney games.<\/p>\n
*****<\/p>\n