By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Kevan Sheppard knew how much time his Bishop Kearney girls’ basketball team needed to erase a fourth-quarter deficit. He also knew which of his players was going to lead that rally.
The 18th-year coach didn’t miss on his projections.
Asia Wilson poured in 16 of her game-high 27 in the fourth quarter as host Kearney came from behind to defeat Aquinas, 65-60 in Private-Parochial League action, Saturday from the Ed Nietopski Gymnasium.
Wilson connected five times from the floor and converted 6-of-9 free throw attempts over the final eight minutes of play.
“It was an heroic fourth quarter,” Sheppard said. “I kept telling her ‘You can do it. If you do what we expect you to do, we will win the game.'”
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Trailing by nine after three quarters of play, Wilson scored back-to-back buckets as Kearney (4-1) opened the fourth on a 6-0 run to make it one-possession game at 51-48.
The senior guard finished a drive to make it a one-point game at 53-52 and then provided the go-ahead basket with 1:39 left in the contest.
Her effort on the latter showed an uncommon determination.
With a pair of defenders on her, she retreated with one dribble along the baseline to create space and then drove to the basket where a third AQ player attempted to make a stop. Wilson kept her dribble and wheeled through the lane before finishing high off the glass with a fourth defender’s hand in her face.
Asia Wilson gives @BKHS_Sports its first lead of the second half at 60-59. pic.twitter.com/Hz5sPpGZ7X
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 21, 2024
“Asia is so tough off the dribble and so quick with the ball,” Aquinas head coach Mark Loria said. “She was able to create an advantage that way.”
Wilson finished off the game with pairs of free throws over the final 15 seconds – the first couplet marked the 1,000th point of her career.
“It feels great,” she said of reaching the milestone. “I am extremely blessed. I’m humbled. It feels really good.”
Wilson playing the hero seemed unlikely in the third quarter when Aquinas needed seven possessions to turn a one-point halftime edge into a double-digit lead.
“They were scoring because of the mistakes we were making on offense,” Sheppard said. “Our turnovers were creating easy buckets. In a half-court set, we did a good job defending them. But if we turn over the ball, we can’t get set up in half court and they were getting easy layups.”
Samiyah Wright opened the second-half scoring with a pair of free throws. Then on consecutive trips down the floor, Jade Harvey scored in the lane. Loren Green finished under the basket, and Molly O’Toole scored inside. AJ Orr converted a rebound and putback.
O’Toole hit a 3-pointer, and the Li’l Irish had their largest lead of the half at 43-31.
“Defensively, they’re really good,” Sheppard said of Aquinas making special note of Orr. “She’s tough. You just don’t want to go in her direction. She makes it really, really tough.”
Orr scored a pair of buckets late in the third for a 51-42 AQ lead heading into the fourth.
Molly O’Toole buries a wing 3, and @AQ__Athletics has a 43-31 lead over Kearney midway through the third quarter. pic.twitter.com/tuOMtq47RY
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 21, 2024
AJ Orr hits a baseline jumper. @AQ__Athletics 53-48. pic.twitter.com/mQw44MsXqU
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 21, 2024
Kearney held Aquinas to four field goals over the final eight minutes.
“I told them ‘We only need two minutes,'” Sheppard said of his comments between quarters in the huddle. “Two minutes and we’re back in the game. That’s what happened.”
Leah Dukes added 19 points in the win including four during the fourth quarter.
Klarissa Goode, with the steal, leads Leah Dukes into the open for a layup. @BKHS_Sports GBB cuts the deficit to 5 at 45-40. pic.twitter.com/hQDDC7Xz7z
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 21, 2024
“Offensively, we got smarter,” Sheppard said. “We started moving the ball and passing the ball to our teammates instead of the other team. We just needed to settle down.”
O’Toole led Aquinas (3-1) with 20 points. The senior guard reached the 1,000-point career mark earlier in the week. Carlé Thomas scored 10 for Aquinas.
“Hats off to them,” Loria said. “We knew coming in this was going to be a tough battle. We got in some foul trouble. We experienced some adversity for the first time this year, and we’re going to learn from it.”
AQUINAS (3-1)
Carlé Thomas 4 4-6 10, Julionna Nkugwa 2 0-0 5, Loren Green 4 1-1 9, AJ Orr 3 0-4 6, Jade Harvey 2 0-1 4, Samiyah Wright 1 4-6 6, Molly O’Toole 8 3-4 20 TOTALS 24 12-22 — 60
BISHOP KEARNEY (4-1)
Asia Wilson 8 11-14 27, Klarissa Goode 2 3-4 7, Adrianna Kennedy 0 2-2 2, Leah Dukes 7 4-4 19, Clair Spears 2 1-4 6, Tamia McCadney 1 0-0 2, Madison Simmons 1 0-0 2 TOTALS 21 21-28 — 65
AQUINAS 19 9 23 9 — 60
BISHOP KEARNEY 15 12 15 23 – 65
3-point goals: AQUINAS 2 (Nkugwa 1, O’Toole 1); BISHOP KEARNEY 2 (Dukes 1, Spears 1).
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