By DYLAN O’LOUGHLIN
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — Tournament MVP senior AJ Orr netted 12 of her game-high 30 points in the final eight minutes to lift Aquinas (NYSSWA Class AAA No. 24) to the Section V Class AAA title with a 59-52 victory over top-seeded Fairport (NYSSWA Class AAA No. 20). With the victory, the Li’l Irish three-peat as sectional champions in three different classes.
“We heard a little bit of chitter chatter about that we only have two good players and I took that personal because my team, these are my sisters and I’m doing anything and everything to defend them, stand my ground for them and be behind them through everything,” Orr said. “So in that fourth I knew I had to lock in, be smart on defense and play discipline. I had four fouls and I was just making sure I played smart.”
After a quick four points for Fairport on layups by Eva Monoski and Samara Rizzo, the game was tied 39-39 just a minute into the fourth quarter. An and-one response from senior forward Jade Harvey gave Aquinas the lead right back. The Red Raiders did not go away though as Rizzo netted four straight points and assisted another to cut the lead to two with 3:25 remaining and Aquinas needed a timeout.
That’s all the Li’l Irish needed though as the lead did not get any closer the rest of the game. Orr netted eight of Aquinas’s last 11 points in the quarter to lead the way. Up 52-50 with 40 seconds left in regulation, Aquinas came out of a timeout with the ball in the half court set with under 10 on the shot clock. The ball went into the hands of Orr, who swished a pull up jumper to extend the lead to four and ice it for the Li’l Irish.
“Make the shot. Big time players make big time plays,” Orr said. “I practice that shot everyday in practice, difficult shots like that over my teammates in practice, they’ll tell you the same thing and I make it 90 percent of the time.
Coming out of halftime, Aquinas had a one-point lead, but the Li’l Irish were able to extend to their lead to as large as seven points thanks to the play of Orr and Harvey. The duo combined for 11 of Aquinas’s 13 points in the quarter and totaled 27 points together in the final 16 minutes.
“I just wanted to come in and win because we wanted to try and make history,” Harvey said. “Not only that, this is my last year so I wanted to do it again with these girls. I really wanted to win and keep working hard so we worked hard in practice and it showed out here on the court.”
In the first half it was a back-and-forth battle between the two squads. Both teams caused multiple turnovers and turned them into points for each side as four different Li’l Irish scored while six Red Raiders found the bottom of the basket as well. Aquinas trailed 14-12 after one, but won the second quarter by three to take a 26-25 lead at halftime that the Lil Irish hung on to the rest of the way.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM STEVEN TWARDZIK.
“Our defense predicates our offense,” Aquinas head coach Mark Loria said. “So if we can get you and turn the ball over, then we can get in transition, that’s where we’re able to be our best and that’s what we’re able to do. I thought the last couple weeks we became more active and more fluent in our defense.”
Orr scored 19 of her game-high 30 points in the second half while Harvey posted eight of her 13 points in the final 16 as well for Aquinas. Sophomore guard Carle Thomas reached double-figures with 10 points while scoring leader junior Loren Green added six.
For Fairport (15-7), Rizzo led the way with a team-high 16 points with eight coming in the fourth quarter while junior Clara Shannon followed with 12 points including nine from beyond the arc. Monoski also chipped in 12 points while Avery Lucey and Autumn Fitch picked up four points apiece. Sophomore Leah Meabon rounded out the scoring with two points.
The championship was the third straight for and seventh in program history. Aquinas took the Class A title in 2024 and Class AA a year ago.
‘It feels absolutely awesome considering five years ago, where we started, my team hasn’t changed much,” Loria said. “So to do it with this group after last year’s success and coming back and going through the adversity. From where we started five years ago and then fast forward to today we just won three straight, Class A, Double-A and Triple-A. They had us in A, then they got to move us to AA, we do it again and then we move up to AAA and we just did it. I don’t know how many teams have done that, but I am super blessed. I wish I could write a book about what these girls had to overcome the last five years. It is nothing but amazing what they’ve been able to accomplish.”
With the win, Aquinas improves to 12-9 on the season and move on to face Section VI champion West Seneca in the Far West Regional.
Heading into the regional, the mindset remains the same for Aquinas.
“I’m going to enjoy this one tonight and take the day off tomorrow,” Loria said. “Then I’ll get at the regional because everything right now is sprinkles on ice cream. So we’ll see, we’ll be ready for it and I think that this one is always the hardest one to win. Then, we kind of settle down and we’ll start playing.”
A 7:45 p.m. tip off is scheduled for the Class AAA Far West Regional on Friday, March 13 at Finger Lakes Community College.
CLASS AAA ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Tournament MVP: Ajaya Orr (Aquinas)
Ja’Nyah Reaves (Greece Arcadia/Olympia)
Denari Langston (Bishop Kearney)
Loren Green (Aquinas)
Samara Rizzo (Fairport)
Jade Harvey (Aquinas)
Clara Shannon (Fairport)
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