Photo courtesy of Dave’s Joint
By David Cordova
In this installment of The City Game, we will be talking about the St. Peter’s Eagles basketball program, who have established their presence in the borough of Staten Island as a powerhouse, while also holding their own against teams in the CHSAA Archdiocesan division against their counterparts from The Bronx & Westchester County.
The borough of Staten Island is a place that many overlook throughout New York City. However, there are some great things to look at regarding the borough. It’s the birthplace of one of the hip-hop industry’s biggest conglomerates, the Wu-Tang Clan, and there have also been plenty of films made in the borough, including classic films such as “Goodfellas,” “The Irishman,” “School of Rock,” “Analyze This,” “The Godfather,” and many more.
There are also plenty of famous celebrities from the borough, including actors such as Vinny Guadagnino from the hit TV show, “Jersey Shore,” Alyssa Milano, Hassan Johnson from the hit TV show, “The Wire,” Michael Rainey, Jr. from the hit TV show, “Power,” and many more.
But the culture of basketball is different compared to the other four boroughs. Because of the separation between this borough and the others, Staten Island is its own world and its own culture. And there are plenty of hoopers that you can see in the Staten Island High School League, playing for one of the 13 schools in the league. The passion on the Island runs deep for many of the players, families and also, the fans, because this is everything for the community.
Even if the team goes out and wins the city or state championship, it may not be noticed. One thing that is noticed is whoever wins the championship in Staten Island.
For the last couple of years, there has been one school that has reigned supreme above the rest.
When you get off the Staten Island Ferry in Richmond Terrace, take the MTA S44 bus and get off at Clinton Avenue and Henderson Avenue and you’ll see a school with a baseball field and a nice campus located in the Brighton section of Staten Island, an area where there are nice family homes and a sense of quiet that you don’t get many places.
The school in question is none other than St. Peter’s Boys High School, which is one of six Catholic high schools in the borough and has been in existence since 1907. With an enrollment of about 466 students, it is a small high school, with a very small gym. But there is plenty of magic that happens in that place.
As far as its basketball history, they have had plenty of talented players come through the program, such as Columbia University head coach Jim Engles, and as of recent years players such as O.D. Anosike (Siena), Liam Murphy (Columbia), Glenn Sanabria (St.Francis Brooklyn) and Reilly Walsh (NJIT), as players who have gone on to play on the Division I level.
Others have gone on to play collegiate basketball at the Division II and Division III level, and have played at schools such as Baruch College, Manhattanville College, College of Mount St. Vincent, College of Staten Island and even Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham campus.
In the 1982-83 season, the Eagles were one of the city’s best teams and were led by Greg Pedro, who would go on to play Division I basketball at Michigan State & Fordham, respectively. They went on to a 25-6 record and won the CHSAA city championship over Archbishop Molloy, who then had future NBA player and current TNT broadcaster, Kenny Smith. That team remains one of the best in school history.
For many years, the program was coached by Charlie Driscoll, who had coached at St. Peter’s on different levels at the school since 1986 and had been the head coach of the varsity from 2001 through 2022, and left a great legacy on the Staten Island high school boys basketball scene, with a record of 344-198 and led the Eagles to 14 SIHSL championship game appearances, 14 CHSAA Staten Island division championships 10 SIHSL championships and two appearances in the CHSAA “AA” semifinals, with the most recent one being in 2013-14, when they went 27-4.
After Coach Driscoll retired after the 2021-22 season, the helm was left to someone in the St. Peter’s family, someone that was known to the program very well.
Enter the name Ryan Woods.
A native of Staten Island, Woods was a 2008 graduate of St. Peter’s, where he won the Jacques Award, the trophy for the best player in the borough of Staten Island, as a senior. He then went on to play collegiate basketball first for Pace University, a Division II school in Pleasantville, New York and then on the Division I level at NJIT in Newark, New Jersey, where he graduated in 2013. As a senior for the Highlanders, he averaged 14.4 points per game.
He then came back to his borough of Staten Island, where he is a fifth-grade teacher at P.S. 13, and also came back to coach at St. Peter’s as the junior varsity coach, where he compiled a record of 54-20 before his promotion as the head coach of the varsity. He is reportedly the 18th head coach in the school’s history, and just the fifth since 1956.
One thing that can be said about Woods is that he is a players’ coach, as he has an energy that complements the players. He is driven to succeed and always encourages the players to do well.
In his first season as the head coach of the Eagles, he compiled an 18-9 record, which included another SIHSL championship, an upset victory over Westchester County’s very own Archbishop Stepinac, also a nationally-ranked powerhouse and went all the way to the CHSAA “AA” quarterfinals, where they would lose to another nationally-ranked powerhouse in Cardinal Hayes.
The players on this year’s squad were very instrumental to the previous year’s success and also this year’s as well.
It all starts with the senior class which consist guards Michael Spisto, Jalen Munson and Antonio Morrello, the terrific trio of guards that can shoot and are also great playmakers.
Then there are the senior forwards in Jorel Monroe, Maddox LaPierre and Qadir Martin, all of whom are players that made their presence felt on the low block and could also put the ball on the floor. With the latter, he showed versatility, while also being known for throwing down furious dunks.
Then there are underclassmen such as junior guards Jack Clancy and M.J. Ford and junior forward Saliou Dioukhane and also a player of the future in freshman forward Talib Martin, the younger brother of Qadir Martin.
With this crew of players, the Eagles were a hard-working bunch all-season long.
This season, they went 18-9 on the season and 5-5 in the tough CHSAA Archdiocesan division, which consists of the Eagles and the aforementioned Archbishop Stepinac and Cardinal Hayes, as well as St. Raymond, Monsignor Scanlan, Iona Prep and Mount St. Michael.
The season started out successfully on Nov. 22nd in the annual Thanksgiving Eve matchup at the College of Staten Island against Curtis, the longtime rivals from the PSAL (Public Schools Athletic League). In this first game of the season, the Warriors would be no match for the Eagles, as they would win once again, 64-37.
Throughout the month of December, they would compile an 8-3 record against the competition in the league, which also included wins against counterparts from their borough such as Moore Catholic, Monsignor Farrell, St. Joseph’s by the Sea and CSI-McCown, before going to the prestigious Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where they would go 2-1.
From Jan. 9th until the final game on Feb. 28th, they would go 10-5 throughout the rest of the season, and they steamrolled through the SIHSL Tournament, knocking off Moore Catholic, St. Joseph’s by the Sea and then Tottenville in the championship game.
Then in the CHSAA Archdiocesan quarterfinals, they would lose to Monsignor Scanlan, 74-66, and then would go on to play in the first-round of the CHSAA “AA” city playoffs, where they would knock off Bishop Loughlin, 81-47, and then would go on to face their ultimate test, Christ the King, in the second round.
Throughout the game, the Eagles would matchup with the Royals and would given them all that they had, with the game going into overtime. However, it was not to be for St. Peter’s, as Christ the King would end up shutting the door on their season, leaving the Eagles with a 59-56 loss.
It would be a crushing blow to the program, as their core group of players will never again wear the blue and white. But for the time that the crew wore the uniform, they became leaders and better players on the floor.
At the present time, three of their seniors are signed to colleges: Qadir Martin will playing collegiate basketball on the Division I level, at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, which will be transitioning from Division II to Division I and will be playing in the Northeast Conference beginning next season. Spisto will be playing his collegiate basketball at Division III SUNY Farmingdale State University, which is in Farmingdale, Long Island, next season. And Monroe will also be playing collegiate basketball on the Division III level at SUNY Oswego (also known as Oswego State) in upstate New York.
With the underclassmen, next year should be a different year, a rebuilding year with the returning players and guys that will probably move up from the junior varsity or freshmen teams. But make no mistake, the Eagles should not be taken lightly, as the boys from Clinton Avenue will always come out to do battle.
Check out our next installment of “The City Game,” as we will be talking about the AAU programs from the area, including the teams on either of the three major circuits (Nike EYBL, Adidas 3SSB and UA Next) and the independent circuits (MADE Hoops and Hoop Group).
davesjoint.net 