By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Jaiyden Jones scored nine of his 22 points in the fourth quarter when host McQuaid Jesuit held off a UPrep rally for a 72-65 victory in non-league action from the John H. Ryan Jr. Memorial Gymnasium, Monday night.
Jones connected three times from the floor and converted on all three of his free throw attempts over the final eight minutes. The senior forward scored seven straight of McQuaid’s points and his two free throws with 49.6 seconds remaining in the game helped the Jesuit Knights pull away from a one-possession game.
“Jaiyden’s our leader,” said first-year McQuaid head coach, Taylor Roth. “He’s given McQuaid basketball everything he’s got for four years. We know we can count on him in big moments, and that makes it a little easier as a coach when you’re on the sideline and you have Jaiyden Jones.
Jones used a spin move in the lane to give McQuaid a 56-48 lead with 4:40 left in the game. He scored off a baseline inbound play and three possessions later he completed a traditional 3-point play.
But UPrep didn’t go away. A Gavin White 3-pointer cut the deficit to three at 61-58.
Andrew Gerenski finished in the lane, and Jones pushed the lead to seven with two free throws. McQuaid did not allow UPrep within three points for the final minute of the game.
“I’d compete with Jaiyden any day of the week,” Roth said. “I love that kid.”
McQuaid came out of the locker room at halftime with a five-point advantage and needed less four minutes to make it a double-digit game when Jones hit a triple for a 48-36 lead.
By the fourth quarter, UPrep cut into the margin. Damari Davis finished a turnaround jumper in the lane for a 52-46 game early in the fourth. Ja’yvion Sampson’s steal, layup and-one trimmed the deficit to three at 58-55 with 3:11 on the game clock.
“We’re a resilient group,” Roth said of his squad’s ability to withstand UPrep’s rally. “I knew that about them. We’ve preached from the beginning that it’s about being together. It’s about the next play. We always tell them to win the next play. You make a mistake or you do something well, treat them both the same. I think we grew a lot in that way tonight. We made a lot of mistakes, but we also made some big plays.”
McQuaid (3-2) went to Quinn Wilson early in the third quarter, and the Jesuit Knights’ big man responded with back-to-back buckets and then an assist when he fed teammate Lucas Wachter on a wing backdoor cut for two points.
But Wilson picked up his fifth and disqualifying foul with 7:26 to go in the game.
Jaiyden Jones connects from distance to give @AthleticsMcQ a double-digit lead at 48-36. pic.twitter.com/ln5jhJuRlp
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 17, 2024
Henry Fox on the leak out for a two-handed slam and a 52-42 @AthleticsMcQ lead. pic.twitter.com/m9ZhKEMcb5
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 17, 2024
Ja’yvion Sampson forces the turnover, finishes the layup and-one to make it a one-possession game at 58-55. pic.twitter.com/1b71x2pt60
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 17, 2024
“Most teams don’t have someone like him inside, so we got to throw to him,” Roth said. “We always want to try and get him going. He did a good job. He was out of rhythm from the beginning. He did a good job of staying with it.”
McQuaid’s Henry Fox led all scorers with 25 points.
White paced UPrep with 21. UPrep, the reigning Class AAA champions, fell to 1-3 with the loss.
“We battled,” said head coach Jerice Crouch. “Any time you lose nine kids it’s going to be tough. There are going to be some growing pains and trying to learn. They’re learning. They’re learning as they’re going. I’m not overly concerned because they’re playing hard. We’ll get caught up. If we keep playing defense like that, the offense will catch up.”
McQuaid hosts Canisius from the Monsignor Martin Athletic Association in Buffalo for a 6:45 p.m. tip off on Wednesday.
UPrep doesn’t play again until January 6th when the Griffins face Greece Athena.
UPREP
Ja’yvion Sampson 3 3-5 10, Gavin White 7 6-9 21, Damari Davis 5 1-2 11, Cai’ryn Jessie 0 0-2 0, Xavier McDonald 1 0-0 2, Jevell Neal 1 0-0 2, James Willingham 4 4-5 13, Demetrius Walker 2 0-0 4 TOTALS 23 14-23 — 65
McQUAID JESUIT
Jaiyden Jones 8 5-9 22, Lucas Wachter 2 0-0 5, Quinn Wilson 4 1-6 9, Henry Fox 10 5-6 25, Christian Jordan 0 3-4 3, Andrew Gerenski 2 0-0 4 TOTALS 26 14-25 — 72
UPREP 12 20 12 21 — 65
McQUAID 17 20 15 20 — 72
3-point goals UPREP 3 (Sampson 1, White 1, Willingham 1); McQUAID 4 (Jones 1, Wachter 1, Fox 2).
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