Aquinas was matched up with Wyandotte in their sub state final today hosted by Gardner Edgerton.  The Saints pulled off a 55-51 victory over the Bulldogs.  They join the Aquinas girls team who qualified for state after defeating Gardner Edgerton last night. (Check out that blog too if you are interested.)

The game was hard fought with long scoring runs by each team.  Wyandotte led most of the first half by five points or so leading by only one at the half.  The Bulldog attack was led by 11 3-pointers in the game.  My dad always says, "It's hard to beat a three with a two." That was a problem for Saints during the first half, but they got the Bulldogs under control holding them for only five points in the third.  That allowed the Saints to take the lead which they kept for most of the second half.

In the fourth quarter the Saints' lead vacillated from nine points to two.  The last minutes of the game were the most interesting as it came down to free-throws which the Bourquins took a hold of hitting seven between the two of them.

Tonight Saint Thomas Aquinas and Bishop Miege played in a rare four game set-up with JV and Varsity boys and girls basketball games at Aquinas in one night.  The teams split the record with Aquinas winning both JV games and Miege taking both the varsity games.

For the boys team it was Senior Night.  The line-up features eight seniors in Zach Bourquin, Alex Keith, Beau Bourquin, Adam Coatney, Mike Etzkorn, Jake Darnell, Mike Rzeszut and Kevin Sweeney. 

The boys started on a 7-2 run and led for the whole first quarter.  They fell behind in the second before trading leads in the second half.  The game had many incredible event such as an awesome dunk from Zach, an inbounds play thrown off the defender's back into play by Beau who led the team with 19 points, a coast-to-coast run by Trevor Releford and most of all, the ending was fascinating. 

The Dance Team sparkled on senior night while the boys fought back for a hard earned victory over the Huskies.  Though the Saints trailed by as many as 9, they were able to take the lead in the 3rd before trading off baskets and eventually drawing the lead to 12 for a 50-38 win in the third match of the year between these two teams.

I can't say that the start was surprising when the Huskies' sophomore star Brett Comer hit a shot on the first possession.  It was not shocking either that the entire team was on fire behind the arch.  But the Saints were able to overcome the talented huskies with a couple forced turnover which resulted in easy baskets.

Once again, the Saints were led by their seniors: Zach and Beau Bourquin, Kevin Sweeney and Alex Keith.  The Saints played together well and piled up the assists making the extra pass when it was beneficial for a basket.  The Saints also played one of the best transition games that I have seen; from steals and lay-ups to getting set for their press after a made basket. 

Tonight, the Saint Thomas Aquinas Saints faced the O’Hara Celtics in the first round of the Jim Draper Classic hosted by Blue Valley Northwest.  They won 63-51 and will face Blue Valley Northwest tomorrow night at 7:00.

The Saints entered the game after a frustrating first game which resulted in a 2 point loss on a last second shot in overtime to the Southeast Knights.

Zach Bourquin made the first basket of the season for the Saints, Tommy Harrison hit the first three pointer and Kevin Sweeney pulled down the first rebound.  Beau Bourquin led the team with 16 points.