The correct answer is no you cannot stay in the transborder (US) zone of the terminal - you must make your way to immigration/connections.
If you are trying to do a return flight on the same aircraft, and it is an Embraer or a CRJ with a 25-30 minute turn-around time, there is a good chance you don't make it because the US pre-clearance tends to be busy in waves throughout the day..