Pickin' Splinters

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Aquinas reigns in AA

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Jack Bleier finishes a layup during the 2022 Section V Class AA championship game. (Photo: RON ANDREWS)

By PAUL GOTHAM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. —  Jeff LaFave didn’t want his second-seeded Aquinas boys’ basketball team to be the next in line.

Preparing to face No. 8 Rush-Henrietta in the Section V Class AA final, the first-year coach delivered a clear message to his squad:

“They’re either going to be Cinderella and make our lives miserable, or we’re going to be midnight.”

The Li’l Irish made sure the latter occurred on Saturday night.

VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM RON ANDREWS HERE. 

Tournament MVP Mason Blackwood scored 10 of his 16 points in the second quarter as Aquinas closed the half on a 19-4 run to take a double-digit lead that it did not surrender.

“We respected them,” LaFave said of Rush-Henrietta after Aquinas claimed the 2022 title with a 77-43 victory. “We respected them so much for what they had done. It’s crazy how hot they got, and we did not want to be the next victim.”

Leading 19-15 early in the second, Blackwood took a lead from his older brother Myles and sparked the clinching run. Next trip down the floor, teammate Mykel White converted a traditional 3-point play, and Jack Bleier followed with an open-floor layup.

Aquinas had a 26-15 advantage and did not allow R-H within single digits again.

“We kept saying the whole game ‘It’s midnight.’ Kept saying it over and over again.”

Rush-Henrietta, a team whose progress was slowed by COVID-19, had lost eight straight games starting in early January. The Royal Comets found their rhythm in February and entered Saturday’s contest winners of four straight and five of six. They had knocked off top-seeded Victor in the quarter-finals and looked like a team of destiny when Mason Giorgione connected on a buzzer-beater to beat Hilton in the semis.

“We did not want to be Hilton,” LaFave said. “We did not want to be Victor. We kept saying that. We don’t want to be them.”

After holding R-H scoreless on the last five possessions of the second quarter, the Aquinas defense limited the Royal Comets to one field goal over three-plus minutes to start the second half – a stretch that saw the Li’l Irish force four turnovers.

“There were some things that we thought we could exploit,” LaFave explained. “We felt like by keeping them out on the perimeter and making them shoot over top of us played into our size advantage. The longer we kept them in the backcourt, the better. Whether we trapped them or not, we didn’t care. Once we noticed they were tired, we started trapping. We started forcing turnovers and it was over.”

Myles Blackwood finished with 16 points in the win. Bleier added a dozen. White scored 11 points, and Robert McCullough had 10.

The game was capped off when former team manager Owen Acciari buried a 3-pointer from in front of the Aquinas bench.

Myles James (3), Jordan Jordan (2), Will Scanlon (2) and Jeh’vay Walker (2) rounded out the scoring for Aquinas.

“The kids just love each other,” LaFave said. “I can’t emphasize as a coach and as a human being, especially everything right now that is going on in the world, what a joy it is to come and being around young men who really care about each other.”

Jordan and Bleier joined Mason Blackwood on the All-Tournament team.

With the win, Aquinas (19-3) advances to next Saturday’s New York State Class AA Far West Regional where the Li’l Irish will face Jamestown. The Red Raiders defeated Niagara Falls 59-34 in the Section VI AA championship.

Tyler Simmons led R-H (11-13) with 11 points. Abdul Bari added nine. Giorgione had six and Wright finished with five points. Ajani Cook (3), Izigk FIsher (3), Nasir Hunter (2), Myles Collins-Howard (2), Isaiah Santiago-Washington (2) and Adareus Smith (2) also scored for the the Royal Comets.

Giorgione and Wright earned spots on the All-Tournament team along with Marcqell Freeman (Edison Tech) and Preston Prince (Hilton).

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