Players of the year
Stefan Bock
St. Peter’s
As a sophomore, Stefan Bock was the backup point guard and by the time his career at St. Peter’s ended, the versatile senior played all five positions on the court and played them well.
“He’s a real hard worker, a real team-first player, a real leader for us,” St. Peter’s coach Charlie Driscoll said. “He did everything. He covered the best player on the other team, he’s our best rebounder, shot blocker and defender and at the end he started to step out and hit 3-pointers. He was a jack of all trades for us, a good, coachable kid.”
Bock, who is considering Manhattanville, Russell Sage College in Troy and Hunter College, led the Eagles with 14.2 points per game and was the team’s best rebounder, shot blocker and defender despite constantly being undersized at 6-foot-1.
Taylor Baggs
Moore Catholic
Taylor Baggs just made one of the biggest shots of her career, but there was no celebration from the Moore Catholic forward as fans cheered wildly around her. She watched a game-tying 3-pointer hit nothing but net to send a first-place, tiebreaker game with rival St. Peter’s to overtime and then quietly ran back on defense.
“Taylor Baggs is absolutely a winner,” Mavericks coach Rich Postiglione said.
It’s something the Caldwell College-bound senior, who averaged 14.7 points and 8.1 rebounds this season, has proven countless times. She hit a buzzer beater in the Mavs’ opening win against Kennedy, the first of many big buckets, and sparked the key stretch in Moore’s blitzing of St. Peter’s for its third straight CHSAA Archdiocesan title. The undersized Baggs rose to the occasion without fail, helping Moore earn a spot in the CHSAA Class AA state playoffs.
“She has really shown she is one of the best players in the area,” Postiglione said.
Coaches of the year
Charlie Donohue
McKee/Staten Island Tech
He’s been the head coach at McKee/Staten Island Tech for four years and in that time, the Seagulls have split the Staten Island A crown with Curtis, reached the PSAL Class A quarterfinals and most recently won their first Staten Island HS League crown.
Donohue lost his best player, Josh Good, to academic ineligibility for most of the year, but got contributions elsewhere, from seniors like Kareem Martin, Qwatee Williams and Javon Cox. Good returned for the postseason and helped MSIT to the SIHSL title, a program first.
“Being the first one to do it is special for these kids,” Donohue said then. “You can never take it away from them. They were the team to put us on the map.”
Rose Dunn
Staten Island Academy
One of her seniors, Casey Bray, struggled through a rare illness that caused the onset of glaucoma. Another, Mayana LeGrande, dealt with the death of her father a week before the state tournament. Somehow, though, No. 4 Staten Island Academy upset top-seed Poly Prep in the NYSAISAA Class C semifinals and won its first state title since 1994 by beating Hackley.
“This is just a fairy-tale ending,” Dunn said afterward.
She was the one who held it all together through the tough times, the one who pushed all the right buttons and got the most out of the Tigers. Dunn kept LeGrande in the game with four fouls. “We became a family,” Dunn said. “They came together. All the adversity made it happen.”
BOYS
By ZACH BRAZILLER & DYLAN BUTLER
Staten Island is known for its dominance in the fall and spring, but that doesn’t mean this was a dull winter for the outer borough. Powers Curtis, McKee/Staten Island Tech and St. Peter’s all enjoyed nice runs in the citywide playoffs – Curtis and MSIT lost in the second round of the PSAL Class AA postseason while St. Peter’s fell to Christ the King in the CHSAA Class AA intersectional quarterfinals. MSIT won its first SIHSL title and St. Joseph by the Sea reached the CHSAA Class B final.
First team
G Kevin Alesi, Tottenville
Staten Island’s scoring leader, Alesi enjoyed a breakout senior season, averaging 21.4 points per game along with five rebounds. The sharp-shooting guard’s production helped Tottenville finish in a third-place tie in Staten Island A and reach the second round of the PSAL Class A playoffs.
F Javon Cox, McKee/SI Tech
The versatile 6-foot-3 wing was the Seagulls’ undisputed MVP – one of their top scorers, the undersized club’s leading rebounder and even a consistent distributor as a point forward. In three varsity seasons, the senior did everything that was asked of him and is as responsible as any player for getting MSIT to the top of the Island.
G Andrew Cannon, St. Peter’s
St. Peter’s lone junior starter, Cannon shook off a slow start because of a bad ankle sprain and was a solid shooter by season’s end. He stepped up big in the postseason, scoring 22 points against St. Raymond and 16 versus Archbishop Molloy.
G Vernon Maddox, St. Peter’s
A classic pass-first point guard, the 5-foot-2 senior was pound-for-pound one of the toughest players in the city. Just two days after his grandfather was murdered in West Brighton, Maddox scored 10 points after halftime in a playoff win against Archbishop Molloy.
F DaShawn Richmond, Curtis
A potent scorer inside and out, Richmond led Curtis to the Staten Island A regular-season crown by averaging 15 points and eight rebounds per game. The 6-foot-3 junior was the Warriors’ go-to weapon on the offensive end and will form a lethal 1-2 punch with fellow junior Debonair Edwards next winter.
Second team
G Joe Busacca, Monsignor Farrell
F Debonair Edwards, Curtis
G Josh Good, McKee/SI Tech
G Mike Nierva, St. Joseph by the Sea
F Presnell Wright, Port Richmond
Third team
F Tommy Delahanty, Monsignor Farrell
G Steven Diaz, Monsignor Farrell
F Kareem Martin, McKee/SI Tech
G Kevin McIntosh, Curtis
G Aaron Morton, New Dorp
Honorable mention
G Osa Izevbuw, McKee/SI Tech
G Dontay Jackson, Curtis
G Scott Schaefer, Moore Catholic
F Alan Siergiej, St. Joseph by the Sea
G Tyler Summers, Petrides
GIRLS
By MARC RAIMONDI & JOSEPH STASZEWSKI
It was a bittersweet year on Staten Island.
St. Peter’s, which has the borough’s top girls basketball program, announced it would be closing its doors in June for good. The Eagles team responded by winning a 16th straight CHSAA Staten Island title in a thrilling, overtime victory over Moore Catholic in a tiebreaker game. Moore ended up beating Peter’s for the CHSAA Archdiocesan title and both teams earned berths in the CHSAA Class AA state tournament.
In the PSAL, McKee/Staten Island Tech continued its dominance, winning a fifth division crown in six years.
First team
G Kaitlyn Astel, McKee/SI Tech
The 5-foot-10 junior averaged 18.4 points per game to lead MSIT to its fifth PSAL Staten Island title in the last six years and a PSAL Class AA quarterfinals berth. Astel might have been the most versatile scorer in the borough.
C Mayana LeGrande, SI Academy
The 6-foot-2 senior was a force in the paint, dominating the glass and willing her team to wins. LeGrande averaged 16.2 points per game and scored 24 points to lead the Tigers to the NYSAISAA Class C title.
G Victoria McFarland, Tottenville
Arguably the top softball player in the city – the center fielder holds a scholarship to Albany – the senior led Tottenville to its first-ever PSAL Class A semifinals berth. The super-athletic McFarland had 28 points in the quarters and 20 against eventual champ Wings in the semis.
G Christine Kline, St. Peter’s
There may not be a better pure point guard in New York City. Kline made St. Peter’s offense go and was instrumental with big late free throws to help her school win its 16th straight CHSAA Staten Island title.
G Jamie O’Hare, St. Peter’s
The junior guard was the Eagles’ mostly explosive scorer, averaging 16.7 per contest. The prolific 3-pointer shooter and hustler was her team’s heart and soul during the final weeks of an emotional season.
Second team
G Ayo Adedapo, Curtis
G Nicole Arnone, Moore Catholic
C Kelsey Carey, St. Joseph Hill
G Dana Gildea, Curtis
G Christina Rubin, Moore Catholic
Third team
F Bethany Claps, SI Academy
G Casey Bray, SI Academy
G Jessica Coscia, Moore Catholic
G Nicole Francomano, St. John Villa
G Kelin Walsh, McKee/SI Tech
Honorable mention
G Megan Burns, St. Peter’s
F Kelly Fraser, Tottenville
F Ashley Iannacone, N.D. Academy
F Shaniqua Lewis, Port Richmond
F Alicea Ulmer, McKee/SI Tech
ALL-CITY SCHEDULE:
Tomorrow:
All-Manhattan boys,
All-Manhattan girls
Thursday:
All-Bronx boys,
All-Bronx girls
Friday:
All-Queens boys,
All-Queens girls
Saturday:
All-Brooklyn boys, All-Brooklyn girls
Sunday:
All-City boys,
All-City girls