Maybe the best thing about the inaugural Borough President’s Cup HS girls’ basketball tournament is the potential for unusual matchups.

While Friday night’s tripleheader to kick off the event at Moore Catholic HS in Graniteville featured a pair of all-PSAL affairs, the middle contest showcased the kind of game that could make this tourney special — a clash between Curtis and Staten Island Academy, two promising and young teams from storied programs that play in different leagues.

The expected close contest materialized through three quarters before the Warriors pulled away far enough in the final period to withstand a late SIA rally and register a 71-65 victory and a berth in the quarterfinals Sunday against Moore.

“We had scrimmaged [the Tigers] in November, but it was the one time this season that we didn’t film the game,” said Curtis coach Talia Sutton. “We knew for sure that they had good shooters, but we also knew that our guards could go out and defend them.”

Still, Sutton noted her club appeared “nervous” at the outset, falling behind 11-0. “But then we settled down, and we started to enjoy playing on the defensive end. That made it easier for the offense.”

Tamiah Singletary (15 points) connected on two of the Warriors’ three treys in the second quarter, which saw Curtis outscore SIA 23-11 to climb to within 34-30 at the intermission.

Curtis stayed hot from the field in the third period and began to assume control by dominating the offensive boards, most notably team high-scorer Fatmata Barrie (20 points).

“When we started to hit from the outside, it gave our kids a lot of confidence,” said Sutton. “That, boxing out and playing defense … when we do those things, we give ourselves a chance to win.”

The Warriors led by double digits most of the fourth quarter before a late rally by the Tigers — paced by Margaret Moschella (game-high 25 points) and Kelly Gallagher (11 of 18 points in the fourth) — made it close.

NOTES: Double technicals were called against SIA’s Emma Valenti and Curtis’s Amira Johnson in the fourth. … The Warriors also scrimmaged the Mavericks in November and, fortunately for Sutton, she has videotape of that contest. “We’re a different team now,” she said.

CSI/McCown 50, MSIT 24

Lamira Perez scored 12 of her game-high 16 points in the first half as the Dragons coasted to the first-round win over the Sea Gulls.

Katelynn Cruz and Maria Quinn each added eight for CSIM. Madisyn Chen led MSIT with nine points.

Petrides 53, Port Richmond 42

The Panthers used a modest 5-0 run over the first two minutes of the second quarter to create a cushion that they never relinquished.

Ysella Kosic powered the Panthers with 27 points (10 in the first quarter). Samantha Giordano (16 points) and Janine Dogan (13) reached double figures for PR.