By DYLAN O’LOUGHLIN
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — Down one coming out of halftime, junior Loren Green netted 19 of her game-high 30 points in the final 16 minutes to lead Aquinas over Section VI champs West Seneca 69-54 in the Class AAA Far West Regional. With the win, the Li’l Irish garner the three-peat as Far West champions, A in 2024, AA in 2025 and now AAA in 2026.
Just last week in the sectional championship, Green the leading point scorer (21.0 PPG) for Aquinas was held to six points in the 59-52 victory over Fairport.
“Last week I only had six points because of the box-in-one,” Green said. “But my mentality was to keep shooting and keep playing for my team because all that matters is this team at the end of the day.”
Aquinas jumped out to a quick 19-9 lead after one as Green and senior AJ Orr combined for 17 points. The Li’l Irish opened up as large as a 13-point lead, but West Seneca went on a 18-4 run to take a 27-26 lead at halftime. Leading the way for the Warhawks was junior Bellarose Milligan with seven points and senior Ava Gunnells following with six.
“Just stay poised, calm down, relax,” Orr said. “We knew that it was a running game going up and down and they wanted to push the floor. We had to slow the tempo down and get back in our groove. Last week they had her [Green] in a box-in-one and she didn’t play her game. I told her for us to win, she has to shoot and she came out here and showed that. She shot the ball, giver her props to that because this game was won because of Loren Green.”
In the third, Milligan knocked down a triple while Gunnells went 1-for-2 from the free throw line to take a four-point lead. Aquinas needed a timeout.
“First of all second quarter, I tip my hat to West Seneca because they came out and they junked us. They played a junk defense and we got a little stagnant,” Aquinas head coach Mark Loria said. “We came out in that third, we wanted to get in our process, turn you over and get in transition, but that wasn’t good so we went man-to-man and made sure to switch everything. I think overall the girls fought, they made the right adjustments, they made huge plays when it mattered and then we were able to accelerate in that third quarter. Then once we get on a roll, we’re tough to stop.”
Coming out of the break, the Li’l Irish went on an 11-0 run to take a six-point lead. The run continued throughout the third as four different Li’l Irish scored and Aquinas took a 50-39 heading into the fourth. Green, Orr and junior Jade Harvey combined for 22 points in the eight minutes as Aquinas won the quarter 24-12.
“I was just thinking for my team,” Green said. “I needed to score for my team because we didn’t want to lose. But, I wouldn’t have been able to done any of this without my teammates trusting me with the ball.”
In the fourth quarter, Aquinas kept its momentum rolling. The Li’l Irish turned defense into offense as Aquinas won the final eight minutes 19-15 to pull away with the victory. Green netted 10 in the quarter to lead the way.
“I’m a defensive player, so when we’re not doing what we got to do on defense, that comes down on me because I am the heart and soul of the defense and everything runs through me,” Orr said. “So if I’m not going, they’re not going to go and when I am going, they are and that sets up the whole momentum for our team. Avery [Espostio] and Gia [Masters] helped a lot as well both coming off the bench, giving us that energy and helping us hustle up and down the court.”
After winning its third straight sectional and regional title in different classes, the Li’l Irish also improve to 6-0 in the state quarterfinals as well.
“I would never call anything routine and the one thing is you want to stay in the moment,” Loria said. “I want to appreciate the moment because you never know when you can. I don’t take life for granted, one day at a time and this is great. I’m happy for the kids, but for me I’m blessed to be a part of it. I’m just happy for everybody, the whole Aquinas family right now. It’s fantastic.”
To go along with Green’s game-high 30 bomb, Orr netted 22 points with 13 coming in the opening 16 minutes. Harvey finished with eight points all in the third quarter while junior Bles’ng Muhammad followed with seven. Sophomore Carle Thomas rounded out the scoring with two points.
For West Seneca, Milligan led the way with 22 points while Gunnells posted 20. Sophomore Isabella Ceccarelli chipped in five points while freshman Lily Gioia connected on a triple. Senior Jayden Ecker tallied two points.
Aquinas moves on to the NYS semifinals for the third straight year and look to go all the way after falling in the state championship last year to Baldwin (VIII) 50-48.
“We got here last year and in my heart this is for Molly [O’Toole] and Samiyah [Wright] because we felt like last year we were supposed to win it all,” Orr said. “I’m just doing this for them and the team because that was our year to win states and I think we fell short. Now, we’re going to prepare, work harder, push harder and prepare for that.”
The Li’l Irish take on either William Floyd or Corning-Painted Post (IV) in the semifinals at Hudson Valley Community College. Tip-off is scheduled for Thursday, March 19 at 2:30 p.m.
Leave a Reply