04-03-2025
Roessel free throw sends Fairport to sectional final in thriller
Jonathan Roessel took a deep breath, dribbled the ball twice and put up his second free throw. The ball landed squarely on the front rim, bounced off the backboard and went in.
That free throw with 1.9 seconds remaining gave (2)Fairport a come from behind 71-70 win over (3)Aquinas in the Class AAA semifinals at Gates Chili Monday night.
Roessel drew a foul driving on a fast break with the game tied at 70. His first free throw did not clear the front rim. The second one worked just fine.
The drama was an appropriate finish for an absolutely incredible game.
Aquinas led by nine at the half, but the Raiders closed the game behind LaShard Lowry, Jr. The 5-9 guard poured in 13 points in the third quarter and knocked down a trifecta of trifectas.
At the other end, the Irish were also being led by their shortest player. Christian McCullough was dazzling with no-look assists, step back jumpers and rushes to the basket that were nearly a blur. Aquinas held their lead through three quarters, but it was only 54-51.
Mackie Terry gave the Irish some breathing room with a crisp Eurostep down the baseline that gave AQ a six-point lead early in the 4th quarter. A few moments later, the Irish had a steal and were inches from an 8-point bulge, but missed a layup. Lowry immediately responded with a three. That's how the fourth quarter progressed. The Irish were poised multiple times to take full control only to have the Raiders knock down a shot that kept the deficit manageable.
Terry nailed back to back jumpers with three minutes to go. The second was a three-pointer that pushed Aquinas ahead by six. Fairport knocked down free throws on the next two possessions to close back within two. Derrion Battle and Landon Brunken exchanged layups and the Aquinas lead was 70-68 with a minute to play.
After a Fairport stop, Brunken was able to find space on the baseline for an easy layup with 20 seconds left that got the Red Raiders even for the first time in the second half. The next 15 seconds were near madness.
Aquinas tried to inbound to McCullough from midcourt, but throwing the ball over his head into the back court. Lowry got to the ball first and had a layup for the lead, but the ball rolled off. The ensuing Aquinas possession was frantic, but concluded with an open layup under the basket that also was no good.
Alexander Grejda grabbed the rebound with five seconds left and found Roessel at midcourt with a head of steam for what would turn out to be the game winner. Aquinas had a three-quarters court heave at the buzzer that was well short.
Brunken led the Raiders with 25 points while Lowry had 23. Fairport is off to the Big House and a date with their arch rivals from Rush-Henrietta. The top seeded Royal Comets held off a frisky (4)McQuaid team 65-57 in the first semifinal at Gates Chili Monday night. The Class AAA final will be Saturday night with tip time to be determined.
Fairport is now 19-3. Aquinas finished their season at 13-9.
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