{"id":138300,"date":"2026-02-19T02:09:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T02:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/138300\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T02:09:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T02:09:08","slug":"moore-catholic-dominates-kennedy-catholic-to-get-one-win-away-from-chsaa-aa-archdiocesan-crown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/138300\/","title":{"rendered":"Moore Catholic dominates Kennedy Catholic to get one win away from CHSAA AA Archdiocesan crown"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 One year removed from capturing the CHSAA A Division State Championship, Moore Catholic hasn\u2019t missed a beat.<\/p>\n

After realigning to the AA division, the Mavericks continued their league dominance following a 12-0 regular season, overwhelming Bronx foe Kennedy Catholic, 63\u201332, in the semifinals to punch their ticket to yet another championship game on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

While the playoffs always bring a different level of intensity than the regular season, the outcome may have felt inevitable after the Mavericks defeated the Gaels 67\u201344 and 66\u201334 in their previous meetings this campaign.<\/p>\n

Still, Moore head coach Gene Henderson\u2019s squad took nothing for granted, setting the tone with a scorching 20\u20130 run to open the game that effectively decided the contest early.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a couple of games like that, and we\u2019ve always stressed getting off to a good start. When we do, we usually win. We got off to a good start, so I was confident. We got a little stagnant in the second, but when you build that kind of lead early, it makes you more comfortable as the game goes on,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n

The Mavericks were clearly comfortable shooting on their home floor, as the offense was powered by a collective barrage from beyond the arc, knocking down nine treys for 27 points as a team.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying at home obviously makes it better. We haven\u2019t lost here in two years, so we\u2019re comfortable here, shooting the ball in this gym; and obviously tonight it showed,\u201d Henderson shared.<\/p>\n

As for sharing the scoring load, three Mavs finished in double figures, as Emma Costanzo (13 points), Olivia Bruno-Dunn (11), and Veronica Barbato (10) each delivered efficient performances, continuing Moore\u2019s trend of moving the ball with aplomb.<\/p>\n

\"MooreMoore Catholic earned a 63-32 CHSAA AA semifinal win over Kennedy Catholic at home on Wednesday thanks to a balanced offensive effort. Mackenzie Felci goes up for a layup against the visitors. (Annie DeBiase for the Advance\/SILive.com)(Annie DeBiase for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing, because you don\u2019t always have to rely on one teammate. We work so well together that it\u2019s amazing to have such strong guards alongside me on this team,\u201d Costanzo said of the way the Mavs spread the floor.<\/p>\n

She also said the best part of her individual performance was the way she moved the ball, particularly her ability to dump it into the post and let dynamic big Mackenzie Felci do the rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting my teammates the ball worked tonight. We work on it in practice. The coaches always emphasize the screen-and-roll, especially with Mackenzie in the paint. She\u2019s dominant, so looking for her off the screen and in the roll, and always looking for my teammates, was definitely the best part of my game today,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Another win for the Mavericks would also help Costanzo end her Moore career with a bang. \u201cIt would feel amazing. My senior year is coming to an end, and we\u2019ve worked so hard this season. Last year was a great win, and I would love to win it again this year,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n

With a championship spot against either Notre Dame Academy or St. Joseph Hill cemented, Henderson had little to critique about his team\u2019s performance against Kennedy. The only minor issue, he noted, was that their huge start left them a bit complacent in the second quarter\u2014something they quickly corrected at halftime.<\/p>\n

\"MooreMoore Catholic earned a 63-32 CHSAA AA semifinal win over Kennedy Catholic at home on Wednesday thanks to a balanced offensive effort. Allie Felci brings the ball upcourt following a steal. (Annie DeBiase for the Advance\/SILive.com)(Annie DeBiase for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a talk at halftime about how we have to pick it up. The third quarter is very important, and the kids responded. They did a great job, listened to everything I said, and we executed,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

The Mavericks will await the winner of Thursday night\u2019s other semifinal, with the AA Championship game set for 4 p.m. at the College of Staten Island.<\/p>\n

\"\"Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 One year removed from capturing the CHSAA A Division State Championship, Moore Catholic hasn\u2019t missed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-138300","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\/138300","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=138300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}