Class AA State Championship: Mount Vernon 61, Aquinas 57
The Lil Irish took one last opportunity to show the state just how good they were and nearly proved to be the best. Aquinas came up just short of its upset bid to defeat the mighty Mount Vernon, but gave the Knights all they could handle for 32 minutes.
Phil Valenti was named tournament MVP following his 33 points and 10 rebounds in the championship game. Aquinas fell behind by 14 points in the third quarter, but as they've done so many times before, rallied to come back. An 11-2 run in the fourth quarter gave Aquinas the lead with 3:51 remaining, but they were ultimately overtaken by the ten-time defending state champions.
Class C State Championship: Tuckahoe 77, OTC/MEC 66
Class AA Semifinal: Aquinas 50, Baldwin 41
Last season, the Lil Irish fell to Jamesville-DeWitt in the Class A state semifinal. This year, the moved up a class to compete in AA, and are now just one victory away from being crowned champions of the state's highest classification.
In the third quarter with the game tied at 37, Aqiunas senior Phil Valenti went down and later limped off the court with what appeared to be a serious ankle injury. Moments later, Valenti was back in the game and the Lil Irish were soon pulling away from the Bruins. Valenti finished with a game-high 21 points along with 11 rebounds, while Jarron Jones scored 13 points and ripped 16 boards.
Aquinas will face Mount Vernon (Section I) for the Class AA state championship on Sunday afternoon.
Class A Semifinal: Harborfields 57, Bishop Kearney 53
The Kings fell behind by 19 points early in the fourth quarter, before roaring back to within three points with just under two minutes remaining. Bishop Kearney went on a 14-0 run over a three minute stretch in the fourth, as Antwoine Anderson scored 11 of his team-high 16 points while Bishop Kearney frantically scrambled to climb back into the game.
Chinoso Obokoh scored 12 points, Thomas Bryant finished with 11 points, and Alvin English added 10 points for the Kings. Harborfields (Section XI) will face Tappan Zee (Section I) for the Class A state title on Sunday, after the Flying Dutchmen upset four-time defending state champ Jamesville-DeWitt.
Class B Semifinal: Bishop Ludden 60, Olean 44
The Huskies went toe-to-toe with Bishop Ludden for the game's first 20 minutes, but quickly fell behind when 6-7 Sam Eckstrom was taken out of the game due to foul trouble . Eckstrom picked up his third personal at the beginning of the third quarter and was charged with his his fourth towards the end of the quarter, while the Huskies were trailing by just four points. The Gaelic Knights outscored Olean 13-2 to start the fourth quarter. With the loss, Olean's win streak ended at 21 games.
Nick Scmidt led the Huskies with 14 points, while a pair of sophomores, Daniel Kaigler and Ben Hackett, led Bishop Ludden with 18 points apiece.
Class C Semifinal: OTC/MEC 58, Cooperstown 57 OT
The Kats needed an extra session and some clutch free throw shooting from Cordell Torres, but they're now one win away from a second Class C state championship in three years. OTC/MEC led after each of the first three quarters until a Cooperstown basket with 5:35 remaining in the fourth quarter put the Redskins in front. The Kats did not take the lead in the game again until there were just 39 ticks left in overtime.
With 1.6 seconds remaining in regulation, Cooperstown big man Michael Moakler missed a pair of free throws, and making even one of them would have won the game for the Redskins. After OTC/MEC took the lead with 39 seconds left in OT, the lead changed four more times. The last lead change came when Torres calmly sank two from the line to tie and then win the game for the Kats.
OTC/MEC will play Tuckahoe (Section I) on Saturday night for the Class C state title.
Class D Semifinal: Sackets Harbor 50, Notre Dame Batavia 40
The Fighting Irish held the lead for the game's first ten minutes, but once they relinquished it, they would never lead again. Zach D'Allessandro scored 11 of his game-high 23 points in the second quarter to help his Patriots take command against the Class D private school out of Batavia.
The Fighting Irish overcame a 13-point deficit to tie the game at 35 apiece late in the third quarter, but could never regain the lead. The Patriots slowed the game in the fourth quarter, took at least 30 seconds off the shot clock on each possesion, and hit several bigs shots over the final 10 minutes to ice the game. Sackets Harbor of Section III will face Madrid-Waddington of Section IX for the Class D state title on Saturday night.
-centercourt
Leave a Reply to RickyCancel reply