Pickin' Splinters

Rochester's Independent Sports Source

Aquinas rolls Williamsville South

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By PAUL GOTHAM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Loren Green gathered the inbound pass along the right side of the floor above foul-line extended. Reading the zone defense in front of her, the sophomore guard fed teammate AJ Orr in the near corner.

Orr used a dribble to get one defender on her hip and drew another before zipping a diagonal pass to Molly O’Toole on the left side of the court. O’Toole caught the ball, took a dribble and found an open Jade Harvey in that corner with a pass. Harvey, shot ready, let go with a 3-point attempt that found iron.

Samiyah Wright was there for the rebound and putback.

Three passes among four teammates and the fifth waiting uncontested for an easy basket.

The synergy was undeniable.

“That’s how we play,” said Aquinas girls’ basketball coach Mark Loria after his Li’l Irish cruised to a 79-30 victory over Williamsville South (VI) in inter-sectional action Saturday afternoon from the Wegman-Napier Gymnasium. “We play space. We play conceptual. When we get that advantage, the ball is going to move until we get a high-advantage shot.”

The play took all of 15 seconds to unfold, but it showed years of development. When Orr made her drive along the right side, the junior guard knew what she was doing before putting the ball to the floor: if the defense gave her space, she was going to the basket. If not, she had the confidence to know a teammate would be in open space on the opposite side of the floor.

O’Toole used the dribble to get in a gap and draw two defenders. Both Orr and O’Toole could have chosen to take shots. Both worked for a better opportunity.

“This is what I’ve been preaching for the last several years,” Loria said. “We’re going to make space. We’re going to make quick decisions. If we get two (defenders) on the ball, we’re going to transfer the advantage to the open girl until we get a high-value shot. That’s what we do.”

A defender is taught to keep a “head on the swivel” as a way to see the ball and see the opposing player off the ball before that person gets open. On this play, the Williamsville South team as a whole didn’t have a chance to shift its view. The ball moved quickly and with confidence. The Billies had no choice but to react to each pass. No chance to adjust.

Wright, being the closest to the basket, was left unguarded as a result of her teammates moving the ball without hesitation.

“We want to play with impeccable spacing, run quick triggers, create advantage, move the ball.”

It was more than that, though.

The sequence came early in the third quarter of a game that saw the Aquinas defense collect 11 steals during the first half of action and convert those opportunities into layups at the other end.

The Li’l Irish established their play in the open court over the first 16 minutes of action. They didn’t need to create in the half-court. Not at least on this Saturday afternoon.

On the first play of the third quarter, Wright grabbed a defensive rebound, pivoted and pushed the ball up the floor off the dribble. When a defender committed to her in the final third, she dished off to Green for a running one-hander along the baseline.

Two trips down the floor later, Green hit a triple early in the shot clock. Then Wright got ahead of the defense for a layup.

A 37-10 halftime lead was 44-14.

This is a team, though, that returns all five starters from last year’s Class A champion. A squad that won the program’s fifth sectional title and advanced to the state semifinals for the first time since 2012.

That team’s season ended with a 63-46 loss to Catholic Central (II) in those state semis.

The play was one that the Li’l Irish will need to be successful if it is going to improve on last year’s run. It was a play they will need in March when opposing teams are less likely to be forced into a barrage of turnovers.

“We want to play up-tempo. We want to play in transition. We want to play outstanding defense. Offensively, it’s not complicated. We want to space the floor.”

O’Toole led all scorers with 23 points. The senior needs 12 more to eclipse 1,000 for her career. She grabbed six rebounds and handed out three assists. Green had 19 points, six assists and five steals. Orr posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 steals to go with three assists. Harvey had her own double effort with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Wright scored six points and grabbed five rebounds.

Carlé Thomas (4) and Julianna Nkugwa (3) rounded out the scoring.

The Li’l Irish finished with 20 steals on the day.

Aquinas (2-0) has 10 days off before hosting another Buffalo-area team when St. Mary’s of Lancaster comes to Rochester.

WILLIAMSVILLE SOUTH
Tessa Petrie 1 0-0 2, Molly Peters 0 0-0 0, Millie Schaefer 1 0-0 2, Leigha Reiley 0 1-2 1, Amy Budelewski 3 3-6 9, Kimrora Berry 3 1-3 7, Nicole Miller 3 0-0 8, Hannah Meetze 0 1-4 1 TOTALS 11 6-15 — 30

AQUINAS
Carlé Thomas 2 0-0 4, Julianna Nkugwa 1 0-0 3, Bles’ng Muhammad 0 0-0 0, Abigail Ball 0 0-0 0, Loren Green 7 2-3 19, AJ Orr 6 2-3 14, Jade Harvey 4 2-5 10, Samiyah Wright 3 0-0 6, Molly O’Toole 9 1-2 23 TOTALS — 32 7-13 — 70

WILLIAMSVILLE SOUTH 5 5 13 7 – 30
AQUINAS 24 13 21 21 — 79

3-point goals — WILLIAMSVILLE SOUTH 2 (Miller 2); AQUINAS 8 (Nkugwa 1, Green 3, O’Toole 4).

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