Section 5 Class "AA" Semifinals

ROCHESTER, NY- With all 4 teams playing in the Section 5 Class "AA" Semifinals on Wednesday night ranked in our NYCHoops.net Upstate Rankings, it was clear that these would be two of the better games in New York State this season, meaning it was a must see for us as we made the trip up to Rochester to take in the action.

There was a ton on the line Wednesday as the winners would advance to Monday's Section 5 Class "AA" Championship Game, so it was imperative that the stars for each of the teams competing rose to the challenge. Both UPrep vs. McQuaid Jesuit and Fairport vs. Bishop Kearney more than lived up to the hype, so with so much at stake, let's look at how the games went with our recap of the night’s action.

Having lost last season in the Section 5 Class "A2" Semifinals, UPrep head coach James Reaves expected his team to try and finally get that elusive "A2" title, but when the Section 5 Basketball Committee decided to jump the Griffins up to Class "AA", things changed.

Many thought that ended UPrep's chances at a sectional title before the season even began, but one who didn't hold that belief was star wing Jeenathan Williams '18.

Always confident in his himself and his teammates, Williams shrugged off the fact that the Griffins were being forced to move to Class "AA", believing that so long as both played with the same ball, they had a real shot to shock everyone around Rochester.

"It doesn't matter to me, it never mattered to me," Williams stated. "I'm a competitor, my teammates are competitors, and we just come and play whoever. I really could care less if Duke was out on the court against us, we would be ready."

That mindset allowed UPrep to go into the season believing that anything was possible. They are a small school with limited resources compared to the other 3 teams who were competing on Wednesday, but when you have the desire that the Griffin players have, they were out to prove that anything is possible.

Going against McQuaid Jesuit and their superstar Isaiah Stewart '19 allowed them that chance, and from the get go it was UPrep who played like the looser and more ready team.

Williams got UPrep going with a slash down the lane, going right at McQuaid big man Cam Wilson '17, scoring while getting fouled. It was a fantastic start that would be continued by the sharpshooting by freshman guard Jakhi Lucas '20.

Considered to be a role player on the Griffins this season, Lucas would hit not one, not two, not three, and not even four first half threes, but five, going 5 of 6 from long range to add another weapon outside of Williams who was able to do damage against the Knights.

It was a tight game early in the opening quarter, but because of Lucas' incredible barrage from downtown, UPrep was able to push out and take a 41-22 lead at the half, a lead that was going to be extremely tough for McQuaid Jesuit to overcome.

The biggest shock was what Lucas was able to do as he was just a 5 point a game scorer during the regular season, and while he himself said he felt confident about a big performance before the game, Williams admitted to shock by what the youngster did in the first half.

"That was big. I have never seen that from him so that was really something special," Williams admitted. "It wowed my eyes and I was like what it this, but I was real happy though."

His happiness was short lived though as to start the second half McQuaid Jesuit made a conscious effort to feed Stewart in the post, with the big man getting in a rhythm and scoring 10 points in the third to draw the Knights to within 47-39 with 2:38 to play in the quarter.

They were within striking distance for the first time since the first quarter, but it was a turnaround baseline jumper by Williams over Stewart that stemmed the tide for UPrep, and then a massive putback dunk by Griffins big man Jabez Thomas '19 helped allow them stretch the lead back up to 13 after three, and put them back once again into a solid, and comfortable position.

Carrying over their strong play from late in the third quarter, UPrep would go on a 10-0 run, with another putback dunk by Thomas punctuating things, putting the Griffins up 59-40 with 5:44 to go in the game, all but putting the game away for the upstart UPrep squad.

Thomas Jones '18 would come on late for McQuaid with a pair of long range makes for the Knights, but it was too little too late as coming out with something to prove, and with no fear, UPrep was the better team from start to finish on Wednesday to ultimate put away McQuaid Jesuit, 72-53.

Led by the 24 points and 13 rebounds from Williams, and the 13 points and 15 rebounds from Thomas, UPrep was clicking on all cylinders from start to finish to take the victory, and you cannot look past what Lucas brought to the table as well as the freshman tallied a season high 21 points in the win.

Stewart would score 10 of his team high 20 points in the third quarter, the quarter that saw McQuaid Jesuit get within single digits, but they struggled from long range as a team going just 4 of 24 in the game, hindering their chances and costing them a shot at moving on to play for the title.

It will be UPrep that will be playing for the championship on Monday, and for the Griffins, they have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain, and that is what makes them so dangerous and such a formidable foe. They weren't expected to even be in Class "AA" before the season and are now 1 game away for being crowned champions, so whatever and whoever is in their way, Williams says watch out.

"Our confidence is high, it's very high. We work so hard, we practice at 6am and we practiced on New Year’s Day, that we are ready for anything. Like I said Duke could play us and I know we would be ready."

They aren't quite Duke, but up next for UPrep will be the Red Raiders of Fairport. A veteran laden team, playing at the Blue Cross Arena has almost become old hat for this group.

This is the fourth consecutive year that they have made the Section 5 Class "AA" Semifinals, and that experience was a huge factor in the eyes of everyone associated with the program as paced by the 18 points from guard Dan Masino '17, Fairport were able to grind out a 58-46 victory.

When you look at the 4 teams in the Class "AA" Semifinals, UPrep, McQuaid Jesuit, and Bishop Kearney all have solid Division 1 prospects, but that isn't the case with Fairport as they are just a good team, with team being the key word in the eyes of Masino.

"We embrace that fact that we are just a solid team, we love that," Masino stated. "We have been playing together since we were little and we know each other like the back of our hands. We make the right basketball plays, and trust each other."

They face that they are the definition of a team, combined with the fact that they have far and away more experience in the big Downtown Rochester arena was an advantage that Red Raiders head coach Scott Fitch felt would play into their favor, which proved to be true right out of the gate.

Masino was able to do a great job attacking the rim early on, allowing Fairport to build a lead of as big as 13 in the opening quarter, but when you do have something of the ilk of Nahziah Carter '17, you knew that eventually Bishop Kearney would make their run.

It was early in the second quarter when that happened as Carter showed a strong midrange game being able to connect, finding holes in the 2-2-1 zone that the Red Raiders were playing to slowly chip away at the Fairport lead.

The Kings defense stepped up as well as after giving up 21 points in the opening quarter, Bishop Kearney limited Fairport to just 5 in the second quarter, getting to within 26-22 at the half.

While no one from Fairport was happy with how they closed out the first half, Fitch was especially disappointed as he felt that they had gotten away from what made them so successful in the early going, and for reasons he couldn't understand.

"I thought we were stagnant and that isn't our game," Fitch explained. "I don't feel like we played our best game and I knew we were going to have to rely at that point on our toughness and our grit."

Grit is a word that Masino mentioned as well, saying that the Red Raiders as a team always try and be the grittiest team on the court, and with them struggled from the floor as a team, he knew that grit would be what would carry them home.

You could say it was grit, but it was also the three ball that carried Fairport as well as Masino, Cam Keeley '17, and Matt Muncey '17 each hit long balls in the third for the Red Raiders as the ball movement around the perimeter was superb, allowing them to get open looks that they began capitalizing on, extending their lead back up to double digits late in the quarter.

It would be a 14 point Fairport lead after three quarters, and even with Bishop Kearney, and more specifically Carter, doing all they could to fight their way back, when a big play needed to be made, the Red Raiders seemed to find a way to make it.

Far from pretty, and maybe not playing the way they wanted overall, Fairport was just able to get the job done, once again proving themselves to be among the best in Section 5, downing Bishop Kearney to advance to Monday's Class "AA" Championship Game, 58-46.

Paced by Masino's 18 points, Keeley added 12 points as well in the victory, with Fairport doing a good job controlling the ball and limiting the mistakes, only turning the ball over 7 times in the semifinal win.

In his final career, high school game, Carter had a game high 28 points to lead the way for the Kings. He also added 10 rebounds, solidifying his legacy as one of the best players in Bishop Kearney history.

It will be the Red Raiders moving on though going into Monday's title game knowing that they may not have the star power that UPrep does, but with Masino noting that they have other intangibles that make them just as special, hoping to bring the hardware home not just for themselves as a team, but for everyone in Fairport as well.

"It means a lot, like a lot. It isn't just important to us, but it's important to the entire Fairport community who support us. We have put in so much time together in the offseason as well that for us seniors this would be very, very special."

So, it's now set as it will be Fairport taking on UPrep on Monday at 8:15pm at the Blue Cross Arena for the Section 5 Class "AA" Championship in what promises to be a classic for high school basketball supremacy Rochester.

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