By PAUL GOTHAM
BUFFALO, N.Y — AJ Orr and Molly O’Toole combined for all the offense in a decisive fourth-quarter run as Aquinas girls’ basketball clinched a spot in the NYS Class AA semifinals with a 59-50 victory over Section VI champion, Starpoint Friday night at Buffalo State College.
Trailing 43-41 with less than six minutes remaining, Orr sparked the run when the junior guard hit a jumper in the lane. O’Toole finished a drive from the wing to give the Li’l Irish a lead they did not surrender.
By the time O’Toole converted a pair of free throws with 1:37 on the game clock, the Aquinas lead was double digits at 53-43.
“Offensively, we found our rhythm,” said Aquinas head coach Mark Loria. “I feel like eventually we’re going to wear you down to the point where you’re going to start fatiguing and making mistakes. That’s when we’re going to step it up.”
The game marked the third straight in which the Li’l Irish (23-1) had to erase a deficit of 10 or more points.
A week ago in the Section V final, Aquinas spotted Webster Schroeder an early 15-5 lead before taking a 55-44 decision. In the semifinals, the Li’l Irish trailed Pittsford Mendon, 30-19 early in the third quarter before pulling out a 57-53 victory in overtime.
On Friday, Caitlin Deney hit a 3-pointer to give Starpoint a 33-23 lead early in the third quarter.
“When we were down 10, I wasn’t panicked because we’ve been here and done this before,” Loria said. “I’ve been around them long enough to know that they understand what we need to do and how we need to do it.”
O’Toole converted a rebound and putback. Wright finished in the lane, and O’Toole connected from behind the 3-point arc. Orr drew a defender a off the drive and dished to Samiyah Wright for a lay-in and O’Toole hit again from distance.
When Orr finished a layup in the open court, the Li’l Irish had their first lead since 15-13 late in the first quarter at 39-37.
“We got big plays in big moments,” Loria said. “We capitalized on those moments.”
Allison Millville connected on a pair of first-half 3-pointers to help Starpoint grab a 28-23 lead after 16 minutes of play. Three different Spartans hit from distance during the first half.
Wright grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds to go with nine points scored for Aquinas.
“It was all or nothing,” the senior forward said. “These are the same girls I’ve been playing with for the past four years. We all have put in a lot of hard work on the court. It means a lot to have a chance to win states. It’s another goal that we know we can achieve.”
O’Toole finished with a game-high 22 points. Orr, the Section V Class AA tournament MVP, had 16. Loren Green (8), Jade Harvey (2) and Carlé Thomas (2) also scored for AQ.
Deney, Allison Millville and Megan Millville scored 10 apiece to lead Starpoint (18-7).
Aquinas will face either Horseheads (IV) or Warwick (IX) in next weekend’s semifinal. That game will be played at Hudson Valley Community College.
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