For St. Joseph by-the-Sea, the Staten Island HS Girls’ Borough President’s Cup Basketball Tournament represented more that just a few games.

The Lady Vikings entered the inaugural event as the prohibitive favorite, which comes with a certain amount of pressure attached.

Add to that the tourney served as a showcase for Sea’s exceptional talent and as a spotlight for the lofty exceptions it has willingly carried the entire season.

Still, when the Lady Vikings found themselves in an 8-8 second-quarter tie Saturday night in the championship at Petrides HS in Sunnyside, it’s likely very few in attendance doubted they would win — and do so convincingly. That was certainly the case, as Sea outscored St. Joseph Hill 24-2 the remainder of the period en route to a 61-30 victory.

“When this [tournament] was put together, it was something on our list to accomplish. To win this in the community is something the girls never had a chance to do,” said Sea head coach Josh Suslak. “It’s great to make history in your hometown.”

The win marked the 10th straight for Sea over Hill, with three of those coming in championship games. Senior Danielle Williamsen and junior Angelina Hodgens once again led the way for the Lady Vikings with 17 points apiece. Williamsen was named to the all-tournament team, while Hodgens was selected as the event’s MVP.

“They’re special players, special kids,” said Suslak of his 1-2 punch. “They’re historic players. They’ll go down in history with any pair ever on Staten Island.”

For the coach and his players, this tourney helped serve to justify Suslak and his school’s decision to move to the harder CHSAA AA division this season. Suslak coached the Lady Vikings to a 29-2 overall record and a NYS Class A Federation crown in 2022-23, and currently has them at 16-4 overall mark this year.

“I’m sure we’ve ruffled some feathers, but we’ve beaten most every AA team we’ve played this year,” said Williamsen, who became Sea’s all-time leading scorer last month, a record Hodgens will likely break. “Each day, we keep getting better and better.”

Suslak recognizes the jump to AA “likely made a lot of enemies on the Island, but we want to give the girls the best experience they can have. What’s the sense of playing six-to-eight teams where you win by 50-to-70 points?”

“We wanted to show we deserved that AA spot,” added Hodgens, who had a steal-and-layup followed by a steal-and-assist in the final minute of the first half, which ended with the Lady Vikings in complete command at 32-10.

“We couldn’t put the ball in the basket, and the fouls hurt us. We would’ve done much better if we hadn’t lost Molly,” said Hilltoppers head coach James Garin, noting the trouble junior forward Molly Keane found herself in that led to her eventually fouling out.

“We didn’t win, but we weren’t supposed to win. We achieved a lot to reach this point. [Sea] put some different lineups out there that made it tough on us.”

Also making it difficult for Hill was a suffocating Sea press defense and numerous contributions from other Lady Vikings, specifically Madeline Lanza, who netted nine points while playing smart ball throughout.

NOTES: Kudos to Borough President Vito Fossella, who was a constant presence at tournament games. .. Kelsey Carey was Saturday’s “legend of the game” who participated in the ceremonial opening tap. Bringing back former scholastic stars for pregame ceremonies (or halftime, as Bob and Pat Daggett were honored on Thursday) was a genius idea. … As for Carey, she graduated Hill in 2013 as the Island’s all-time schoolgirl leader in points. She was also a Jaques Award winner, a five-time Advance All Star over two sports (including volleyball) and went on to become a 1,000-point scorer at Fairfield University then played professionally in Ireland. An assistant coach for the College of Staten Island’s women’s basketball team, she is also a registered nurse at S.I. University Hospital. … The top of Williamsen’s all-tournament team trophy toppled and broke during postgame festivities. After a brief moment of shock, most everyone got a chuckle out of it.