Aquinas, Schroeder girls to meet in Class AA title game; Cal-Mum tops Geneseo

Yahoo

06-03-2025

After a slow first half, the Li'l Irish stormed back in the second half to earn an overtime win over the Vikings.
Aquinas, the defending Class A champions now in Class AA, could not get into a rhythm on offense. Mendon led 17-9 after the first quarter and 26-17 at the half. The Li'l Irish did not make a single three-pointer in the first half.
They didn't make one in the third quarter, either. But the rest of their offense picked up to get them back into the game. Mendon led 30-19 early in the third, then Aquinas went on a 15-3 run to end the third quarter in front 34-33.
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair. With five minutes to play, Loren Green hit a layup high off the glass to put Aquinas up 41-40. Mendon answered with back-to-back three-pointers from Eva Dixon and Natalie Mai, giving the Vikings a 46-41 lead with 2:30 to go.
Aquinas fought back, with AJ Orr sinking a three-pointer to cut the deficit to two points. With just over a minute to play, Molly O'Toole hit a left-handed hook-shot runner to tie the game up at 46. Both teams had opportunities in the final minute, but neither team could score, sending the game to overtime.
The Li'l Irish started the extra session hot and never looked back. Buckets from Jade Harvey, Orr, and Julionna Nkugwa gave Aquinas a six-point lead to start overtime, a lead they would not relinquish.
Orr paced Aquinas (21-1) with a game-high 20 points. O'Toole had 12 while Green had 11.
Gabby Esposito led Mendon (18-5) with 15 points. Kate Crowley and Dixon both tallied 12 points.
Aquinas will carry an 18-game winning streak into the Class AA final where they will take on Schroeder. The two teams met on January 23rd, with Aquinas winning 66-62. The championship game will be played at Finger Lakes Community College on Saturday, March 8th at 7:00 p.m.
Bria Watkins led Schroeder with 22 points as Webster Schroeder ran away from the top-seeded defending champs from Hilton for a 73-54 upset in the Class AA semifinals Wednesday night.
Cadets star senior Mallory Heise opened the game on fire. She scored all 13 of Hilton's points in the first quarter and had 22 at halftime. She added ten more in the third quarter to finish with a game-high 32 points, but fouled out 20 seconds into the fourth quarter.
The absence of Heise might not have been enough to swing this game. Schroeder was just a machine after halftime.
Hilton led by four at the break and Heise opened the third quarter with a pretty step-back three-pointer. Schroeder answered with a 12-4 run to take the lead and just kept coming. After scoring 25 points in the first half, the Warriors rolled up 29 points in the third quarter alone. Kylie Clement led the charge with 10 of her 18 points in the period and Schroeder led 54-45 heading to the fourth.
After Heise was sent off, a medical issue with a fan briefly sent both teams to the locker room. When the game resumed Hilton immediately got back-to-back three-pointers from Madison Murphy and Jayleigh Esposito to chop the Schroeder lead to six points. The Warriors only allowed one point over the final five-plus minutes and cruised to the win, knocking off the defending Class AA champions.
Addison Morgan also scored 18 for the Warriors. Avery Kroenig chipped in with ten points. Schroeder is now 17-6 and will face Aquinas for all the Class AA marbles. The sectional final is Saturday at Finger Lakes Community College with a 7 p.m. tip.
Heise was the only Hilton player in double figures, but Murphy did score nine points. Hilton finished their season 21-2. Both losses were against the Warriors. Last year, Hilton made it all the way to the state championship game.
The Cinderella Geneseo Blue Devils fought hard and actually led top-seeded Cal-Mum at the half, but the Raiders' dynamic duo pulled out a victory in the second half.
Senior forward Hazell Nickerson scored 27 points and had 10 rebounds for Cal-Mum. Senior guard Ava Amorese tallied 23 points and five rebounds.
Geneseo started the game strong, leading 11-8 after the first quarter and 23-22 at the half.
However, in the second half, Cal-Mum's zone stifled Geneseo on offense, allowing the Red Raiders to go on a run.
Cal-Mum trailed 27-26 with 3:45 to go in the third quarter. Then, the Raiders scored the next 15 points, ending their run with a 41-27 lead early in the fourth. Geneseo stayed competitive the rest of the way, but they could never get the deficit back into single digits.
Nickerson and Amarose accounted for 50 of Cal-Mum's 57 points. Emma Brogan scored five points and Shea Drazkowski tallied two to round out the scoring.
Olivia Bucci scored 11 of her 14 points in the first half for Geneseo. Lily McBride joined her with 14 points.
Caledonia-Mumford (19-4) will play third-seeded Bloomfield in the Class C1 championship game. The two teams did not meet in the regular season. Bloomfield cruised past Byron-Bergen 79-32 in their semifinal matchup. The game will be on Saturday, March 8th at 3:00 p.m. at Finger Lakes Community College.
Geneseo (9-13) entered the tournament as the 12-seed, beating Gananda and Clyde-Savannah en route to the semifinals.
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