ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Junior center Tyler Warner posted his eighth double-double of the season, and the Aquinas Li’l Irish defeated Vertus Academy, 68-49 in non-league action on Saturday.
Warner finished with a career-high 36 points to lead Aquinas to its third win in the last four games. The 6-foot-11 Warner hauled in 20 rebounds to go with five blocks on the afternoon.
“Big fella really played with a great motor today,” Aquinas head coach John McCauley said. “He was really physical, got great position all game, and most importantly, he protected the rim and got a lot of second chance opportunities.”
Warner connected six times from the floor in the third quarter as AQ stretched an 11-point lead into a 26-point advantage going into the final quarter.
“I loved the fact that our other guys made a concentrated effort to keep getting him the ball too, another sign were coming together more as a team,” McCauley added.
The Li’l Irish have struggled to find their lineup this season.
Junior forward Steve Mahar missed the first seven games with an injury suffered during the school’s run to the New York State Class AA football title. The 6-foot-7 Mahar returned to the lineup, and Justin Johnson missed Monday’s 87-66 loss at Leadership Academy with a fractured hand. The junior guard is expected to miss there to five weeks.
“Thought we did a really good job of playing more physical, pressuring defensively and forcing turnovers, allowing us to get some easy baskets in transition,” McCauley explained. “When we can get that combination working, forcing turnovers, and establishing the big fellas in the halfcourt, I like our chances.
Brick by brick. Run the marathon. https://t.co/PZypNkmrmk
— Coach JA (@Wiyse1) January 20, 2019
“Defensively, we stunk up the joint against Leadership in our previous game. Gave them way too many comfortable looks from three, and at the rim. We talked about that in practice, in detail. Thought we did a much better job of executing the scouting report defensively, forcing tough contested jump shots and then Tyler protecting the rim with guys willing to take charges.”
Myles Blackwood, Gabe Miller and Jack Scanlon all scored seven points apiece for the Maroon and White. Jack Bleier added four points while Ruben Torres connected once from behind the 3-point arc. Mahar (2), Luke Putnam (2) and James Jones (2) rounded out the scoring for Aquinas (4).
“I just liked our overall energy today from the guys on the court, and the guys on the bench. The chemistry and camaraderie is growing. We still have some things to clean up, but were putting together longer stretches of good, smart, physical basketball on both ends of the floor now than earlier in the year. We’ll keep working, keep learning, keep growing. Really happy for the Tyler cause he worked so hard this off-season, he’s only scratching the surface for how good he can be.”
Cesar Ostolaza paced Vertus with 13 points. Jabez Thompson added 10. Eric LeBrane scored nine. Xalen Lucas (7), De’Andre Hunter (3), Jarel Dixon (2), Rashawn Williams (2) and Amauri Smith (2) rounded out the scoring for Vertus (0-12).
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