The St. John Villa basketball team returned home Friday night for the first time since it was announced that the school will be closing its doors at the end of the school year.
Villa's Tiffany Smith also needed 16 points to join the 1,000-point club, but the Moore Catholic basketball team spoiled the party with a 61-56 CHSAA victory in Arrochar.
"It's nice to be back home and we're lucky enough to have the next five games at home," said Villa head coach Liz Blanchard. "We've had a lot of support from alumni texting me for our schedule to come to our home games before it closes."
"I think as their home schedule winds down it will really hit home," said Villa fan Phil Bracco. "Right now I think the team is focused on winning games."
It was a high-pressure game to begin with between Villa playing its first home game since the devastating news and Smith's pursuit of 1,000-points, but it was also a battle for first place between the two team's.
With the win, Moore improved to 6-3 on the season to tie Villa (4-3) for first place in the Staten Island CHSAA division.
"This was probably our best shooting game of the season, but it wasn't our prettiest game offensively," said Moore head coach Gela Mikalauskas. "We're happy to get the win and to be tied for first place now."
Alexandra Arenas led Moore's balanced attack with 15 points, while Kayla Schmitter recorded 14 points and nine rebounds, and Amber Abusibeh scored 11 points and dished out seven assists.
"Amber (Abusibeh) is only a sophomore who's continuing to develop and tonight was probably one of her better games of the season," said Mikalauskas. "Alexandra Arenas had a good shooting game for us and when she's on then she's on. Rileigh Wheeler (seven rebounds) and Kayla Schmitter helped us on the boards and did a really good job and that sometimes goes unnoticed but their toughness was there when we needed it most."
Moore held a 26-21 halftime lead, but the Mavericks opened things up in the second half with their red-hot shooting from deep as they connected on three three-pointers in the quarter.
"We discussed at halftime that we were lucky to be shooting as well as we were and then we came out on fire in the second half and I was like 'go figure,' "said Mikalauskas.
The Mavericks opened the third quarter on a 10-3 run thanks to Arenas (five points), Abusibeh (two points) and Schmitter (three points).
Moore would outscore Villa, 17-8, in the period to build a 43-29 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the Bears would not go down without a fight.
Gianna Kroczynski scored 13 of her game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to help Villa battle back as the Bears' full-court pressure helped turn defense into offense as they outscored Moore, 27-18, in the final period.
"Give credit to Villa's defense for forcing us into a lot of travels and sloppy passes," added Mikalauskas.
Smith scored six of her 12 points in the fourth quarter and needs just four points to reach 1,000 career points and will look to do so Saturday at home against McKee/Staten Island Tech at noon.
The Mavericks will face Tottenville on the road Saturday in a non-league contest at 1 p.m.
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