Nahziah Carter and Patrick Thomas combined for 10 fourth-quarter points as the Bishop Kearney Kings erased a four-point deficit and went on to defeat the Aquinas Li’l Irish, 50-48 in Class AA quarter-final action at Wegman-Napier Athletic Complex Saturday night.
In a contest where neither team led by more than five points, Thomas scored the first four of the fourth quarter to knot the game at 41, and Carter gave Kearney its first lead of the second half at 45-43. Two possessions later, Carter used a drop step in the lane to set up a dunk for a lead they did not surrender at 47-45.
Jalen Pickett scored seven of his game-high 25 points in the third quarter to pace Aquinas to a 41-37 advantage going into the final eight minutes of play. The senior guard finished the day 9-of-18 from the floor including three of seven behind the arc to go with four of four at the free throw line. He grabbed 10 rebounds.
Aquinas jumped out to an early lead. Pickett got the Li’l Irish on the scoreboard first, and sophomore Luke Putnam followed with one of two 3-pointers on the day.
But Kearney scored the next six and led 14-13 after the first quarter.
Kearney forced 16 Aquinas turnovers and converted those miscues into 15 points. The Kings outscored Aquinas 20-18 in the paint.
Carter led BK with 15 points. Thomas had 13 and hauled in a game-high 14 rebounds including eight on the offensive end. The Kings outscored Aquinas 11-7 in second-chance points. Shykell Brown scored nine points and handed out three assists for Kearney.
AQ’s Jason Hawkes had game-highs with three blocks and four steals. The senior forward had seven points.
Bishop Kearney (16-6) will play No.1-seed Fairport (19-1) in Wednesday’s semi-final round. The Red Raiders won 74-58 when the two teams met earlier this season. Fairport advanced with an 88-56 win over Edison Tech.
The loss ended AQ’s reign as two-time sectional champ. The Li’l Irish went on to win the state title last year and advanced to the Federation final. The two schools have combined to win 21 sectional titles. Bishop Kearney took the 2013 AA1 championship its third straight Section Five crown. The Kings went on to win the 2013 state title.
The game had 14 ties and nine lead changes.
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