By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Jermelle Cotton scored eight of his 10 points over the final 3:50, and No. 4 UPrep erased a late deficit to beat top-seeded Aquinas, 58-55 Monday night at Gates-Chili High School.
With the win, UPrep advances to Section V Class AAA championship game where the Griffins will face No. 3 Franklin.
Cotton grabbed the rebound off his own miss for a bucket and then finished a layup in the open floor to give UPrep a brief 54-53 edge.
Following a pair of Christian McCullough free throws, Cotton’s pull-up jumper coming out of a timeout with 1:27 remaining in the game gave UPrep a lead it did not surrender at 56-55.
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“We drew up a play for Mel,” said UPrep head coach Jerice Crouch. “I told him ‘if the three’s not there, drive. Be solid, don’t do too much. Go win us a game.'”
The Griffins’ defense held Aquinas without a field goal during the decisive stretch.
“It’s just about getting stops,” Crouch said. “We kinda let our foot off the gas, defensively. We called a timeout and then let them know – we need stops. We’re going to have to get stops to win a championship, and it starts now.”
Jermelle Cotton gets ahead of the defense for a 54-53 @UprepBball lead 1:27 remaining pic.twitter.com/9TjLSkQ4ZT
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 27, 2024
Jermelle Cotton UPrep 56-55 pic.twitter.com/wYDlwFSXe1
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 27, 2024
UPrep led 31-25 at halftime and extended that advantage to 11 at 37-26 early in the third quarter on a Gavin White bucket.
Aquinas rallied.
Mackie Terry connected on a catch-and-shoot three from the top of the key, and McCullough followed with a jumper to tie the game at 39.
Terry later added a basket in the lane to give Aquinas a 49-44 lead early in the fourth.
“You got to limit them to one shot,” Crouch said. “You can’t give them multiple opportunities because they’re eventually going to score.”
The two teams split a pair of games during the season – both being decided by single digits. Aquinas took a 68-65 decision in early December. UPrep turned the tables with a 55-50 victory on February 3rd.
The single-possession win was the second straight for UPrep which was 0-4 in games decided by three points or less to start the season.
“Experience is the best teacher,” Crouch said. “That’s why we schedule the way we do, so we can be in those situations. Come February, come March we’ve done it before. We’ve been here before. Even though we didn’t succeed early in the year, it taught us a lot going into this moment.”
Alex Webb led UPrep (12-9) with 11 points to go with five rebounds. Ja’yvion Sampson had six points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. Quentin Nowden collected 10 points, two rebounds and two assists.
Pull-up jumper, Christian McCullough ties the game at 39 with 2:09 remaining in the third. pic.twitter.com/SvMxkd3d15
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 27, 2024
Chris Leysath led Aquinas (17-4) with 16 points. McCullough had 14 points while Terry added 13.
The Class AAA championship is scheduled for a 9 PM tip-off Friday at the Blue Cross Arena.
UPREP
Ja’yvion Sampson 3 0-0 6, Gregory Bodine 2 0-0 4, Gavin White 3 1-2 8, Keone Manigault 3 0-0 7, Quentin Nowden 4 1-1 10, Jermelle Cotton 4 2-4 10, Knekose Mack 1 0-0 2, Alex Webb 5 0-0 11 TOTALS 25 4-7 — 58
AQUINAS
Jadeir Breedlove 4 0-0 8, Trent Buttles 0 0-0 0, Christian McCullough 5 4-6 14, Mackie Terry 4 3-4 13, Derrion Battle 0 0-0 0, Micah Anderson 2 0-1 4, Christopher Leysath 7 2-2 16 TOTALS 22 9-13 — 55
UPREP 20 11 11 16 — 58
AQUINAS 15 10 20 10 — 55
3-point goals: UPREP 4 (White 1, Manigault 1, Nowden 1, Webb 1); AQUINAS 2 (TERRY 2).
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