By PAUL GOTHAM
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Mason Blackwood and Jack Bleier combined to hit three 3-pointers in the final 17 seconds, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a double-digit deficit as the Aquinas Li’l Irish saw their season end with a 60-58 loss to Jamestown (VI) in the NYS Far West Regional championship.
Trailing 56-49, Bleier hit his first trey to start the late-game flurry. Aquinas extended the contest with a foul on the ensuing inbound and Blackwood’s triple made it a 57-55 game with 11.3 seconds on the clock. Bleier connected on his second triple of the sequence with 1.6 remaining, but Aquinas did not get another chance.
Jack Bleier 3. 1-point game pic.twitter.com/P1RXNyiyQI
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 12, 2022
“I tip my cap to Jamestown,” first-year Aquinas head coach Jeff LaFave said. “I wish them the best of luck in Glens Falls.”
Aquinas scored the first eight points of the game, led 20-12 with 4:35 remaining in the second quarter and still had an advantage early in the third quarter.
Jamestown’s Trey Drake scored 20 of his game-high 22 points during the second half. The junior guard hit his first of five 3-pointers to give the Red Raiders their first lead at 26-25. Drake closed the third with a 40-foot jump shot, and Jamestown had a lead it did not surrender at 38-36.
Drake scored the first five points of the final stanza, and Jamestown extended its lead to 10 at 48-38.
“When we called timeout, we were like ‘Guys, anything can happen, but if you don’t believe it then it’s not going to happen,’ ” LaFave explained. “They all kinda looked at each other to a man and said ‘Let’s do it then.’ ”
Mason Blackwood bank 3 makes it a 2-point game with 11.3 remaining. pic.twitter.com/tzzFHmAF4D
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 12, 2022
Blackwood converted a rebound and putback before finishing a lead from his older brother, Myles.
“We started to isolate and do different sets to try to get them exposed,” LaFave said of AQ’s attack to combat Jamestown’s match-up zone. “We ended up going to some high-low zone sets which ended up getting us loose. I wish we would have gone to it sooner. I think if we had went to it three or four minutes sooner, we might have had a different outcome.”
Mason Blackwood cuts the deficit to 4. pic.twitter.com/hYu9Eg0kAI
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 12, 2022
The loss snapped a seven-game Aquinas (19-4) winning streak and represented just the third time this season the Li’l Irish were held under 60 points.
“They’re physical,” LaFave noted. “If you don’t give us space as a super-athletic team to operate, you’re really taking away our attributes to be able to score.”
Mykel White takes the Mason Blackwood outlet and converts at the other end, but a Trey Drake 40-footer before the horn gives Jamestown a 38-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter. pic.twitter.com/y5s0uYrFP8
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 12, 2022
Blackwood finished with a double-double. The sophomore forward scored 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting and grabbed 15 rebounds. Bleier scored 14 and collected three steals. Myles Blackwood scored seven points and handed out four assists. Robert McCullough accounted for seven points. Mykel White added six. Jordan Jordan (2), Will Scanlon (2) and Chris Leysath (1) rounded out the scoring for Aquinas.
The trip to regionals was the ninth all-time for the Aquinas (5-4 record in those contests) and the first since 2016 when the Li’l Irish went on to win the NYS Class AA title under former head coach Mike Grosodonia.
“They made a decision in May to get Aquinas back to prominence, and they did,” LaFave said of when he was hired for the position. “I think Aquinas is back.”
Sean Paige added 19 points for Jamestown. Jaylen Butera scored 10, and Jaral Farmer had eight points.
The Red Raiders will play Green Tech (II) in next Friday’s semi-final game.
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