STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Luca Mineo scored the go-ahead basket with under a second to play and Nick Rebracca poured in 26 points to lead St. Joseph by-the-Sea to a 45-44 CHSAA A division win over visiting Xavier Thursday in Huguenot.<\/p>\n
Rebracca tallied 26 on the strength of five three-pointers for the second straight game as the Vikings improved to 4-2 overall, including 3-2 in league play. Mineo and Jack Boyle teamed for another 11 points for Sea.<\/p>\n
Mineo, who is one of Sea\u2019s first players off the bench, has a penchant for nailing big shots during crunch time this season. The junior also performed during wins over Moore Catholic and St. Peter\u2019s earlier this season.<\/p>\n
Xavier\u2019s Travis Mitterway nailed a three-pointer to give the Knights a 44-43 lead with just 18 seconds left on the clock. <\/p>\n
Mineo, however, helped the Vikings come out on top when he drove the lane and hit a layup with just eight-tenths of a second left in the game.<\/p>\n
Xavier\u2019s desperation heave was off the mark as time expired.<\/p>\n
The Vikings trailed 21-17 at intermission, but they exploded for 21 third-quarter points behind the sharp-shooting Rebracca. Not only did the junior nail four treys in the period, but he also had a three-point play that helped Sea take a 38-33 lead into the final quarter.<\/p>\n
Rebracca added four more points in the fourth to help give Sea a 43-41 advantage before all the fireworks in the waning seconds.<\/p>\n
Mitterway paced Xavier with 11 points while Hugh Courtney and Lucas Coleman added nine points apiece for the Knights, who finished with nine three-pointers. The Manhattan school dropped to 3-1 overall (1-1 league).<\/p>\n
South Shore 73, Susan Wagner 49<\/p>\n
BROOKLYN, N.Y. \u2014 Point guard Chris Albano scored a game-high 20 points, but the Falcons couldn\u2019t build on a promising start as they dropped the PSAL 4A Brooklyn-Staten Island II division contest to the host Vikings on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Darin Humes-James and Charles Gambino teamed for 13 points for Wagner, which dropped its second straight decision to fall to 6-2 overall (2-2 PSAL).<\/p>\n
The Vikings, meanwhile, had five players in double digits, including Ejieeke Ukaegbu (17 points), Josiah Greeves (12 points), Levi Sylvester (11 points), Jaydin King (10 points) and Anthony Penado (10 points). South Shore improved to 2-4 overall (2-1 PSAL).<\/p>\n
Albano scored six points, Humes-James added a three-point play and Adem Djonbalic nailed a three as the Falcons owned a 12-10 advantage after one period.<\/p>\n
But the Vikings scored 20-plus points in each of the next three periods to take control of the contest. <\/p>\n
Ukaegbu tallied eight second-quarter points and Greeves added five as the Vikings took a 31-23 lead into the lockers. <\/p>\n
The Vikings never took their foot off the pedal. Sylvester and Penado teamed for 13 markers to help give the hosts a 51-35 lead entering the final eight minutes and they never looked back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you (show up flat) against a program as storied as South Shore\u2019s, you\u2019ll get embarrassed. That\u2019s what happened tonight,\u2019’ said second-year head coach Danny Lanigan. \u201dHopefully, this is a lesson learned and it never happens again.\u2019’<\/p>\n
SIA 70, Packer Collegiate 51<\/p>\n
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 The Tigers used a strong second half performance on Thursday to propel themselves to their sixth consecutive win to open the season as they upended visiting ACIS rival Packer Collegiate in Dongan Hills.<\/p>\n
SIA was led by senior Luke DeVito, who poured in 26 points, including 17 in the second half. Danny Nowak added 21 markers and Gabe Moschella contributed 14 for the winners (6-0 overall, 4-0 ACIS). <\/p>\n
Packer had the upper hand in the first hand, as SIA had difficulty guarding the Pelicans\u2019 halfcourt sets. The visitors would use impressive ball movement to convert on a number of backdoor cuts in the first half, much to the dismay of Tigers head coach Mike Mazella.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew what Packer was going to run,\u201d the long-time Tigers mentor noted. \u201cBut they run their sets with such great discipline and precision that they were still ending their possessions with open layups. We didn\u2019t do a good job communicating on their screen-the-screener sets, and we paid the price.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trailing 14-9 after the opening quarter and 31-27 at the half, SIA switched things up after halftime and mixed in some zone with their man-to-man defense to slow the Pelicans. The strategy worked as the Tigers, buoyed by the inspired play of DeVito (11 third-quarter points) stormed back to take a 51-46 lead at the end of the third period. <\/p>\n
\u201cLuke, perhaps more than any other guy on our roster, wanted this game badly,\u201d Mazella offered. \u201cThis is his fourth year on varsity, and he has never beaten Packer before. They\u2019ve really had our number the last few years, and we knew we would have to bring our A-game to beat them. The first half was rough, but Luke stepped up in the second half. He played lights-out on both ends of the court. He\u2019s very active in our zone defense, and he was hitting his shots tonight on the offensive end.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Nowak opened the second half with an inside basket, Moschella came alive for the Tigers and converted a three-point play before draining a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Tigers their first lead since early in the first quarter, 35-33. From there, DeVito took over, as the uber-athletic swingman scored off a Nowak assist before converting off both a steal and then an offensive rebound. Moments later, DeVito drained a trey to give the Tigers a 49-46 lead. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing that makes Luke unique,\u201d Mazella noted, \u201cis that he can score without us having to run a play for him. He plays with such energy that he can get us points with his defense, rebounding, or hustle. Then, of course, he can score off his drives or outside shooting in the halfcourt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two more DeVito threes in the fourth quarter and another from guard Mike Belkin helped the hosts expand their lead in the fourth quarter, as the Tigers were finally able to defeat Packer and stay undefeated on the season.<\/p>\n
SIA prepares for their next challenge when it takes on defending champion Friends Seminary in a key league match-up on Tuesday in Manhattan.<\/p>\n
\u201cFriends Seminary was the class of the league last year,\u201d Mazella observed. \u201cWe are going to have to play our best to give ourselves a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tottenville 58, Port Richmond 36<\/p>\n
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 The Pirates jumped out to a 12-4 lead after one, buoyed by the scoring of Elias Souledis (eight points in the quarter) and never looked back in taking the PSAL 3A contest in Huguenot. <\/p>\n
Senior guard Danny Garcia (three treys) tallied a team-high 16 markers, while Souledis finished with 12 and Shiloh Ezderman 11 for Tottenville, now 4-0 in the 3A division. Jeremiah Zyeveon-Miller chipped in with seven for the winners, while Mekhi Hines led PR with a game-high 22.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought Elias and Shiloh played physical and set the tone early, while Danny and Antonio (Tarantino) controlled the pace and made timely shots,\u201d said Tottenville head coach Kevin Alesi. \u201cIt\u2019s a good home league win, but we have a lot of improving to do so we can\u2019t get complacent \u2014 especially going on the road against CSI\/McCown Monday night.\u201d <\/p>\n
New Dorp 69, Eagle Academy II 30<\/p>\n
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 The Centrals led 14-3 after one and exploded for 25 points in the second period for a 39-9 lead at the intermission in coasting to the PSAL 3A win at the Dreyfus Intermediate school in Stapleton.<\/p>\n
After winning its first two games of the year, Pat Hopkins\u2019 squad bounced back nicely after a tough 49-45 loss to first-place Tottenville to move to 3-1 in the league.<\/p>\n
Omari Onwe scored 17 points for the Centrals, while Elijah Pizzaro and Billy Fraser were also in double digits with 15 and 11, respectively. <\/p>\n
Justin Webley led Eagle with 11.<\/p>\n
ND is back in action Monday when they visit Petrides, while EA visits Old Bridge HS (NJ) Saturday at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n
Petrides 68, Telecom 65<\/p>\n
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Junior Jaiden Brown scored a career-high 15 points on the strength of four three-pointers as the Panthers won their second straight with the non-league victory over the visiting Yellowjackets in Sunnyside.<\/p>\n
In addition to Brown, Kareem Nesbitt (15 points), Daynell Rowland (11 points), Aiden Gonzalez (10 points) and Sonyboy Zintamus (nine points) contributed offensively for Petrides (2-3 overall).<\/p>\n
Senior Kevin Mateo scored a game-high 29 points and sophomore Brandon Jorge added 24 markers to pace Telecom.<\/p>\n
Thanks in part to Nesbitt (14 points) and Brown (12 points), the Panthers entered the final period clinging to a 51-49 lead.<\/p>\n
Nesbitt tallied five, Zintamus added a three-point play and Brown sank his last three during the final eight minutes to help the host team hang on.<\/p>\n
Junior varsity<\/p>\n
Tottenville 58, Port Richmond 33<\/p>\n
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Lucas Souleidis led a balanced attack with 21 points as the Pirates cruised to the PSAL 1A victory over the visiting Raiders in Huguenot.<\/p>\n
Adam Musleh added 17 points and Raymond Markis chipped in with 13 points and 14 rebounds for Tottenville, which remained undefeated (4-0) in PSAL play and 4-1 overall.<\/p>\n
Tottenville head coach Brian Linner credited Jonathan Crockett grabbing nine boards and playing well defensively while getting an increase in playing time because of injuries and sickness.<\/p>\n
Adam Ortiz led Port Richmond with 14 points.<\/p>\n
(Staten Island Advance\/SILive.com freelancer James Speciale contributed to this report)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Luca Mineo scored the go-ahead basket with under a second to play and Nick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-68703","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\/68703","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=68703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}