One team is making its third straight state semifinals appearance; the other its first state semifinal appearance in program history. Aquinas and William Floyd (XI) are set to square off in the state semifinals. Here’s the breakdown:
AQUINAS LI’L IRISH
13-9 / Private/Parochial / No. 10 NYSSWA
vs.
WILLIAM FLOYD COLONIALS
19-5 / AAA-League I / No. 23 NYSSWA
Section XI
Thursday, Hudson Valley Community College, 2:30 p.m.
How they arrived here: Aquinas defeated Rush-Henrietta (74-17), Greece Arcadia/Olympia (79-32) and Fairport (59-52) to win its section before beating West Seneca West (69-54). William Floyd defeated Huntington (55-51) and Ward Melville (56-45) before falling to Walt Whitman (57-41). With an at-large bid, the Colonials defeated Corning-Painted Post (61-30) to reach the state semifinal.
Scoring offense: Aquinas (59), William Floyd (61.1)
Scoring defense: Aquinas (50.1), William Floyd (45.3)
Trends: Aquinas enters action on a six-game win streak including four double-digit victories. William Floyd has won 12 of their last 14 games including 10 wins by double-digits.
Players to watch for Aquinas: Loren Green Jr. (21.0 PPG, 2.0 APG), AJ Orr Sr. (14.0 PPG, 5.0 SPG, 4.0 RPG), Jade Harvey Jr. (9.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG), Carle Thomas So. (9.0 PPG)
William Floyd: Milania Farrow So. (13.1 PPGm 2.1 RPG, 1.6 STL/G, 1.3 APG); Savannah Pantry Jr. (12.5 PPG, 10.9 RPG, 3.0 STL/G, 1.6 BLK/G); Taleah Coppola Fr. (10.6 PPG, 4.3 APG, 3.1 STL/G, three RPG); Gabrielle Bell-Eleazer 7th (7.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 2.5 STL/G, 2.2 APG); Chloe Campbell Jr. (5.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 1.8 BLK/G, one APG).
Coaches: Mark Loria (Aquinas), Rich Sinclair (William Floyd)
History 101: Aquinas is making its third straight state semifinal appearance – each of those at a different classification. The Li’l Irish advanced to the Class A semis in 2024. A year ago, AQ reached the state final in Class AA. The Li’l Irish also reached the state semifinals in ’91, ’11, ’12. In 2011, they advanced to the NYS Class B title game. William Floyd is making its first state semifinal appearance.
More history: Section V teams have combined for 28 state championships over the years. Only Section I (39) and Section III (29) have won more. Section V has claimed 14 large-school titles: Webster Schroeder (’23, AA), Bishop Kearney (’22, AA), Pittsford Mendon (’19, A), Pittsford Sutherland (’14, A), East High (’12, A), Newark (’09, A), Rush-Henrietta (’08, AA), Rush-Henrietta (’07, AA), Rush-Henrietta (’06, AA), Pittsford Sutherland (’06, A), Honeoye Falls-Lima (’05, A), Greece Arcadia (’04, AA), Penn Yan (’86, B), Our Lady of Mercy (’85, A).
*From 1981-2003, teams competed at four different classifications: A,B, C and D. Classes A and B were considered Large School.
What’s at stake: A spot in the Class AAA state finals against either Shaker (2/21-2 No. 6 NYSSWA) or Albertus Magnus (I/23-2 No. 3 NYSSWA) on Friday.
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