Fairport girls back to finals, Monroe, Victor boys advance

Girls Class AAA semifinals: (1)Fairport 47, (5)Bishop Kearney 40

Fairport overcame an eight-point deficit at halftime to advance to the Class AAA finals. 

After a back-and-forth first quarter, Bishop Kearney led 10-9. BK extended the lead to 23-15 at the break.

Fairport climbed back in the third quarter, outscoring BK 17-10 to trail by just one point with the final frame to play.

Fairport dominated the final eight minutes. The Red Raiders took the lead just over a minute into the quarter and never looked back.

Clara Shannon led Fairport with 13 points. Samara Rizzo and Eva Monoski each tallied nine.

Bishop Kearney was led by Denari Langston with 14 points. Claire Spears added 13.

Fairport (15-6) will face No. 3 Aquinas in the Class AAA finals on Saturday, March 7 at FLCC. Bishop Kearney ends its season 7-14.

Boys Class A semifinals: (4)Monroe 67, (1)East 61

Trailing 43-39 in the third quarter, Monroe scored 17-straight points to knock off top-seeded East.

East led 21-15 at the end of the first quarter. Monroe rallied back to take the lead at the half, 32-31.

The two teams traded leads until Monroe put together its 17-0 run. The scoring streak came to an end in the fourth, and in the final six minutes, East fought back to make it a three-point game with a minute remaining.

Despite the comeback efforts, Monroe held off the Eagles to come away with a win and secure a spot in the title game.

Navareon Patton finished with 21 points for Monroe. Jordan Reis scored 15, Tah’Jier Holmes added 13, and John Hardy came away with 10.

East’s Zion Parson led all scorers with 29 points.

Monroe (16-5) will face No. 3 Wayne in the Class A finals on Saturday, March 7 at Blue Cross Arena. East ends its season 14-5.

Boys Class AA1 semifinals: (3)Victor 70, (2)Irondequoit 61

Benjamin Fell led the Blue Devils with 20 points and Victor led start to finish in their semifinal at Fairport High School Wednesday night. 

Victor was up 19-14 after a fast paced first quarter and extended the lead to 16 on a Gage Hay second quarter three pointer. Irondequoit closed the half on a 9-1 run to get within 36-28 at the break. The final bucket came on an inbounds play with 0.6 seconds left in the quarter as Roman Maldonado flipped to Maurice Clark for a catch and shoot right underneath the basket. 

The Blue Devils played excellent defense and forced a number of backcourt turnovers that led to easy buckets. They pushed the lead back to 15 in the third quarter on a J.J. Mastin three pointer. Irondequoit would not go away. The Eagles got within seven points at the end of the third quarter and cut the lead to 53-47 on a Maldonado fast break layup. 

Whenever Victor needed a three, they got a three. Gus Pappajohn answered the Maldonado bucket with a triple and Timmy McAuliffe followed with another that rebuilt a double digit advantage. Irondequoit never seriously threatened after that. 

McAuliffe finished with 14 points for the Blue Devils and Ravi Chitre also scored 10. 

Maldonado paced the Eagles with 15 points. Clark added 11 points and Tahmaj Pope ended up with 10.

Victor improved to 15-7 and will face top seeded Penfield in the Class AA1 final. The Patriots got past (4)Churchville-Chili 66-55 in the first semifinal. That game will be Saturday at Blue Cross Arena. 

Irondequoit finished their season at 16-6. 

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