By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Chanel Alexander scored six of her game-high 19 points in the first quarter when the Aquinas girls’ basketball team grabbed a 19-10 lead on their way to an opening-round win in Class A first-round action, Wednesday night.
Alexander and Lydia Kaplun combined for 12 points in the opening stanza.
“First round of sectionals, so you want to get rid of the nerves real quick. Get out there, settle down and start to play,” Aquinas head coach Mark Loria said after the 63-29 win over Eastridge. “Once we were able to get into our press, make a couple buckets then we started to get going.”
Alexander connected three times from the floor in the opening eight minutes. Kaplun hit a pair of 3-pointers.
Aquinas outscored the Lancers 19-3 in the second quarter to take a commanding 38-13 advantage into halftime.
Chanel Alexander for the and-one. Aquinas girls lead Eastridge at the half: 38-13. Alexander has 15. pic.twitter.com/yJK0HBeXeZ
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 27, 2020
“Our game, we want to run in transition,” Loria noted. “We want to play excellent defense. We want to get a lot of deflections. We want to create turnovers, so that we can get into transition. That’s kinda what we want to do.”
Julie Sonricker hit two of her four triples in the second quarter when the No. 3 seed Li’l Irish (17-4) pulled away for their 10th win in the last 11 games. The junior guard finished with 14 points on the night.
Sophia Hartman scored six points in the win. Nora Miller added five points. Jayda Henton had three. Sienna Hinchcliffe, Sarah Spampinato and Amaris Watts chipped in two points apiece for AQ. Isabella Testa converted a free throw attempt.
Anna Fakovic paced Eastridge with eight points. Nevaeh Johnson had seven. Chloe Interlicchi and Jenna Ortiz both scored four points. Nijeylie Torres (2), Dené Gordon (2), Milly Beaubrun (1) and Sarah Walters (1) rounded out the scoring for Eastridge.
With the win, Aquinas advances to meet East in the quarter-finals. The two teams met earlier in the season, a game that East won 49-48.
Baseline spin move courtesy of Chanel Alexander. End 3rd: Aquinas 55 Eastridge 20 Girls Class A opening round pic.twitter.com/sP8ypSToUZ
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 27, 2020
“Matchup nightmare,” Loria said of the pending contest. “They’re a really good basketball team. They have great size.”
East beat Greece Arcadia earlier in the night. Shariona Blocker scores 18.7 points per game to lead the Eagles. The junior guard hands out 5.3 assists and grabs nearly six rebounds per game. Teammate Makayla McCorker averages a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds per outing.
“They have a great player,” Loria added. “They got great kids on the floor to compliment the great player. It’s going to be a challenge, but we’re ready.
“We’re glad we’re playing East. It will be a great challenge for my young girls. We’re going to be ready for them.”
A 2 p.m. tip off is scheduled Saturday at Aquinas.
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