By PAUL GOTHAM
TROY, N.Y — This time a second-half comeback fell short.
Trailing by nine heading after 16 minutes of game action, the Aquinas girls’ rallied to take a lead by the end of the third quarter.
The advantage was short-lived as the Li’l Irish fell to Baldwin (VIII), 50-48 in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AA championship game, Sunday morning at the Edward F. McDonough Health and Physical Education and Recreation Complex on the campus of Hudson Valley Community College.
Loren Green used a spin move along the baseline to get to the basket for a layup and a 40-39 Aquinas lead.
It was the Li’l Irish’s first lead since an 8-5 advantage midway through the first quarter.
“When you look at Baldwin’s scores throughout the year, they were pounding people, blowing other teams out,” said Aquinas head coach Mark Loria. “We know who we are, so we knew coming in here that we were going to fight the fight. Our girls fought the fight. I couldn’t be more proud of our kids and the fight that they showed today.”
Behind the deft shooting touch of Alyssa Polonia, Baldwin (24-1) took a 12-point lead early in the second quarter. Polonia was 6-of-7 from the floor in the first half including 4-of-5 from distance to help the Bruins to a 24-12 lead.
Polonia spent the last six minutes of the half in the bench with two fouls.
The lead was still a dozen when Payton Dulin finished a layup for a 28-16 Baldwin lead.
Molly O’Toole scored six of her 15 points in the third quarter. Th senior guard converted off back-to-back drives in the lane to cut the deficit to two. A Carlé Thomas triple made it a one-point game at 39-38.
Aquinas, which rallied from double-deficits against Pittsford Mendon in the sectional semifinals, Webster Schroeder in the sectional finals and in the regional win over Starpoint (VI), looked poised for another dramatic victory.
“My hats off to Baldwin; they’re a great team,” Loria said. “We came up just a little short today.”
Aquinas, which scored on eight of 11 possessions to close the third quarter, was held scoreless for the last three minutes of the game.
On Saturday, Aquinas scored 44 points in the first half of a 67-39 win over Warwick in the state semifinals.
Sunday’s offensive output was a season-low for the Li’l Irish.
At the same time, Aquinas held Baldwin, which scored 62 in its semifinal win over Catholic Central, to 18 points in the second half.
The Li’l Irish combined a three-quarter court 2-2-1 press with either a 2-3 or 3-2 half-court zone defense to keep the Bruins off-balance.
“I thought we had a little bit of success with that,” Loria said referring to the changing defenses. “We wanted to be as active as we can be…You’re hoping that they miss shots. As were they hoping that we would miss shots.”
Monique Echols finished a layup in transition off a pass from teammate Payton Dulin for the go-ahead bucket at 49-48 with 1:35 remaining.
“We’re really tough,” Loria said. “We’re a really good basketball team. I’m proud of our kids and what we’ve accomplished this year.”
Green finished with 15 points. Orr had seven. Samiyah Wright (5) and Jade Harvey (2) rounded out the Aquinas scoring.
The appearance in the state championship game was the first for the Aquinas girls’ program since 2011.
Polonia led all scorers with 18. Dulin had nine. Echols scored eight.
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