Jack Leasure Shooting and Skills Camp Regional Preview: Aquinas and Starpoint battle in state quarterfinal

Both squads are making returns to regionals after they each faced different teams last year. Starpoint fell to Hilton, Aquinas topped Lewiston-Porter. Now, these two teams are set to battle it out at Buffalo State for the NYS Regional title. Here’s the breakdown:

AQUINAS LI’L IRISH (22-1)
vs.
STARPOINT SPARTANS (18-6)
Friday, Buffalo State, 7:45 p.m.

How they arrived here: Aquinas defeated Churchville-Chili 74-47 to open the Section V Class AA tournament and then topped Canandaigua 73-42. The Li’l Irish defeated Pittsford Mendon 57-53 to move onto the Class AA final and beat Webster Schroeder 55-44 to advance to regionals. Starpoint defeated Orchard Park 48-40 in the semi-finals matchup in the Section VI Class AA tournament and then topped North Tonawanda 50-43 in the title match to get to here.

Scoring offense: Aquinas (72.4), Starpoint (52.9)

Scoring defense: Aquinas (52.3), Starpoint (39.7)

Trends: Aquinas enters the regional matchup on an 19-game win streak. The Li’l Irish have won 14 of those games by double-digits. Starpoint comes in with a 11-game win streak under its belt.

Players to watch for Aquinas: Molly O’Toole Sr. G (21.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.0 APG); Loren Green So. G (21.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 3.0 APG, 3.0 SPG); AJ Orr Jr. G (17.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 5.0 SPG); Carlé Thomas Fr. G (9.0 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 2.0 SPG); Jade Harvey So. G (4.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG); Samiyah Wright Sr. F (4.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG).

Starpoint: Madelyn Schmidt Sr. G (9.3 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 2.9 SPG); Megan Milleville Sr. C (9.1 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 1.3 SPG); Sophia Waliszewski Sr. G (8.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 4.7 APG, 5.7 SPG); Natalie Prezioso Jr. G (7.9 PPG, 1.1 APG, 1.5 SPG); Caitlin Deney Sr. G (5.6 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 2.3 APG).

Coaches: Mark Loria (Aquinas), Megan Reed (Starpoint)

History 101: Aquinas is 3-0 in regional championships since 2007. Aquinas reached the state quarterfinals in 2012. That was the second straight regional appearance for the Li’l Irish.  AQ beat Olean in 2012 before losing in the Class B state semi-finals to South Jefferson (III). In 2011, Aquinas took down Eden (VI) in the Far West Regional before going on to lose in the NYS Class B Championship to Irvington (I).

What’s at stake: Winner advances to the state semifinal and will face either Horseheads (IV) or Warwick (IX).