STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Nick DeGrado poured in a season-high 20 points and Moore Catholic head coach Todd Byrnes earned his first varsity win via a 50-45 CHSAA A decision over visiting St. Edmund\u2019s on Saturday in Graniteville. <\/p>\n
In addition to DeGrado, who finished with four three-pointers, the Mavericks received 15 points from Eenej Vinson and seven more from Matt Gibbons. Moore improved to 1-2 overall and in league play.<\/p>\n
Kenyatta Wilkinson paced St. Edmund\u2019s (0-2) with 14 points.<\/p>\n
Vinson\u2019s eight first-half points helped the Mavs to a 21-18 halftime lead.<\/p>\n
However, three-year varsity player DeGrado, Moore\u2019s point guard, caught fire after intermission to help the hosts pull away.<\/p>\n
DeGrado tallied 15 of his 20 markers in the second half \u2014 including three shots from behind the arc \u2014 and Vinson chipped in with seven more points to help Moore earn the victory.<\/p>\n
SIA 71, New Dorp 60<\/p>\n
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 The Tigers shook off a sluggish first half to score 46 second-half points and register a non-league victory over visiting New Dorp on Saturday in Dongan Hills.<\/p>\n
SIA was led by Gabe Moschella\u2019s 22 points and Danny Nowak\u2019s 21 markers. Luke DeVito chipped in with 12 and made several key plays in the second half as the hosts pulled away from the Centrals.<\/p>\n
The Tigers, though, would have to hold on as the visitors mounted one last charge in the fourth quarter that included three of Vinny Fiorenza\u2019s five three-pointers. Fiorenza would lead the Centrals with 19 points, while Omari Onwe added 16.<\/p>\n
New Dorp\u2019s Onwe dominated the first quarter as the senior tallied 11 points in the period to carry the Centrals to a 17-10 lead. <\/p>\n
Nowak kept SIA afloat in the first period with six points, and Moschella would connect for seven markers in the second quarter. The Tigers, though, still trailed 32-25 at the half.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur practice Friday wasn\u2019t very crisp,\u201d noted SIA\u2019s head coach, Mike Mazella. \u201cWe weren\u2019t playing with much passion or burst, and we seemed to be in a funk. I can\u2019t say I was surprised when that performance carried over into the first half.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luckily for the Tigers, they were able to flip the script in the third quarter, outscoring the Centrals 27-11 to grab a 52-43 lead heading into the final quarter. The trio of Moschella, Nowak and DeVito spearheaded the SIA comeback, as they teamed for 23 points in the quarter. <\/p>\n
Moschella gave the Tigers their first lead since they led 2-0, when the junior converted a post move for a 42-40 lead. DeVito then followed with a steal and three-point play when he was fouled converting a lay-up. Moschella assisted on an Ayden Howe fast break opportunity before connecting for a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Tigers a 50-43 lead. Nowak capped off the quarter with a driving layup at the buzzer. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe just started to get some high-quality shots in that third period,\u201d Mazella observed. \u201cMany of our baskets were the result of defensive stops and steals, and it was really on that end of the court where we needed to step up our play. On offense, we struggled in the halfcourt, and we still need to improve in that area. It\u2019s a good thing we raised our defensive intensity in that second half, because New Dorp is a well-coached team and they were on a bit of a roll.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fiorenza, however, would not let the Centrals go quietly, as the New Dorp sharpshooter poured in 11 fourth-quarter points, including 3 long-range three-pointers. Two of those treys, however, were answered by Tigers threes, as Mike Belkin and John Elefterakis would connect from deep for the Tigers to keep the visitors at bay. <\/p>\n
The final three from Fiorenza trimmed the Tigers\u2019 lead to 65-57, but some solid foul shooting and two key steals from DeVito helped seal the Tigers\u2019 victory.<\/p>\n
SIA moves to 3-0 on the season and will be back in action Monday when it travels to Brooklyn to take on Berkeley Carroll in an ACIS match-up.<\/p>\n
New Dorp, which played without Josh Carter and James Flores, dropped to 3-2 overall.<\/p>\n
Susan Wagner 80, Poly Prep 42<\/p>\n
BROOKLYN, N.Y. \u2014 Adem Djonbalic had career highs in points (21) and three-pointers (seven) and the Falcons buried a whopping 15 shots from behind the arc as they cruised to the non-league victory over the host Blue Devils.<\/p>\n
Chris Albano (19 points, two treys), Jimmy Eisenhardt (career-high 12 points, four treys) and Charles Gambino (eight points) also contributed offensively for Wagner, which won its sixth straight game to open the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur best overall performance of the young season,\u2019’ praised second-year head coach Danny Lanigan, noting SW was outplayed and outcoached when it played at Poly last season. \u201dOur experience and hot shooting enabled us to grab control early and we never looked back.\u2019’<\/p>\n
Djonbalic nailed six of his seven threes in the first half and Clevi Hoxha and Eisenhardt both added one triple as the Falcons took a commanding 42-21 lead at intermission.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Gambino and Albano) have been really carrying us and it was only a matter of time until our shooters found a rhythm and that happened today,\u2019’ explained Lanigan.<\/p>\n
Albano added nine points in the third and Djonbalic sank his final trey as SW took a 59-30 advantage into the final quarter.<\/p>\n
Lanigan praised Darin Humes-James, Hoxha and sixth man Yusef Daramy for continuing to do the dirty work and grabbing their share of rebounds. The coach also praised freshman Brayden Louisson for his contributions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother solid game for (Louisson) as well. He continues to make an impact and finding shooters off his penetration,\u2019’ the head coach added, noting Louisson finished with five assists.<\/p>\n
Junior varsity<\/p>\n
New Dorp 60, SIA 41<\/p>\n
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 The Centrals turned a tight first half into a runaway win Saturday, surging past the host Tigers in Dongan Hills. <\/p>\n
Trailing 23\u201322 at the break, the Centrals erupted in the third quarter with a smothering defensive stretch that created turnovers, fast-break chances and complete control of the momentum.<\/p>\n
Jayden Crawford sparked ND\u2019s offense with 18 points, including three threes and four assists. Mohammed Mustafa added 16 points and five boards, while Leo Qoku dominated inside with 11 points, 13 rebounds, and three steals.<\/p>\n
The Centrals next travel to Brooklyn on Saturday to face Prospect Heights.<\/p>\n
Susan Wagner 44, Poly Prep 41<\/p>\n
BROOKLYN, N.Y. \u2014 Kasyn Ford scored 19 and Dylan Ameneiros added 10 as the Falcons pulled out the non-league victory over the host Blue Devils.<\/p>\n
Jayden Acea chipped in with seven for SW.<\/p>\n
Ford finished 11 for 15 from the free-throw line, including 8 for 11 in the second half.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Nick DeGrado poured in a season-high 20 points and Moore Catholic head coach Todd…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-63377","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\/63377","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=63377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}