By JOHN LIKANJE
The Aquinas L’il Irish struggled through the early portion of the season. Four of their first six games were against Regis (Catholic High School Athletic Association), Park School (Monsignor Martin), UPrep and McQuaid. The L’il Irish’s schedule did not get any easier with Leadership Academy, UPrep and Webster Schroeder slated to participate in the Mike Dianetti Memorial Tournament this weekend. However, John McCauley’s squad came out on top with back-to-back, nail-biting victories to win the title. Friday night, sophomore guard Jack Bleier banked in a tough, up-and-under runner for the game-winner against the Webster Schroeder Warriors.
Jack Bleier hits the runner. FINAL: @AQBoys_Hoops 57 @WebWarriorBball 55 pic.twitter.com/s881NkkNjk
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 28, 2019
Saturday night, sophomore guard Myles Blackwood was the hero as he drove into the lane and finished a buzzer-beating layup between a trio of defenders. Not only did the L’il Irish win their holiday tournament, they handed Leadership Academy its first loss of the season as well.
Myles. Blackwood. @AQBoys_Hoops in overtime 76-74 pic.twitter.com/juUCf1iRXv
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 29, 2019
“We came in playing with house money,” McCauley said after Saturday’s win. “Nobody gave us a chance. All the pressure was on them. We just got back to the basics. I trusted my athletes against theirs. I trusted my guys.”
Aquinas goes into the New Year with a 4-4 record and looks to continue building momentum. McCauley’s squad will host Edison Tech on January 3rd at 7 p.m.
VIEW MORE SUE KANE PHOTOS HERE.
OTHER HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT WINNERS
Congratulations to the following teams for winning their respective tournaments this weekend: Addison, Bradford, Brockport, Caledonia-Mumford, Hilton, Marcus Whitman, Newark, Penfield, Rush-Henrietta and Scio.
HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIPS SLATED FOR MONDAY
There are three holiday tournament champions to be decided on Monday:
Honeoye Bulldogs (4-3) vs. Warsaw Tigers (2-6) – 1:30 p.m. at Keshequa High School.
NE Douglass Panthers (4-3) vs. Livonia Bulldogs (3-3) – 7 p.m. at Honeoye Fall-Lima High School.
Attica Blue Devils (3-3) vs. Batavia Blue Devils (3-1) – 8:45 p.m. at Genesee Community College
Here is the rest of Monday’s slate:
Dansville vs. Keshequa: 12 p.m. at Keshequa High School
Roy-Hart (VI) vs. LeRoy: 3 p.m. at Genesee Community College
East Rochester vs. Honeoye Falls-Lima: 5:30 p.m. at Honeoye Falls-Lima High School
Elba vs. Notre Dame Elmira (IV): 7 p.m. at Genesee Community College
Charles G. Finney vs. Geneseo: 7:30 p.m. at Geneseo High School
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
TahJae Hill called game with a buzzer-beater to lift Hilton over Eastridge.
TAHJAE HILL BALL GAME. @PickinSplinters @Hiltonhoops @HiltonCadets @iamtahjaehill @jml5798 pic.twitter.com/vGjSjZmMYm
— Billy Heyen (@BillyHeyen) December 29, 2019
Na’Zea Fowlks sent UPrep into overtime against Leadership Academy with this putback slam.
Leadership Academy for Young Men vs. @UprepR tonight was top wild game of @SecVBBasketball szn so far. Leadership and UPrep each had a ton of major buckets. Top one had to be a couple seconds to go @nazeafowlks follow jams one to send it to OT. HEADBAND NAZ. The game had 8 dunks. pic.twitter.com/f2Uy67IZjo
— Matt Trabold (@TrabsMatt) December 28, 2019
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