Boys

#4 Justin Lloyd – Aquinas

   Aquinas – Camden Parada 2 0-0 5, Patrick Green II 4 2-12 12, Justin Lloyd 9 4-8 24, Jacquez Merriweather 3 1-2 8, Lorick Howard 3 1-2 7, Alex Cosper 0 2-2 2, Charle Bussey III 2 3-8 7. Totals: 23 13-34 64.

    Josey – Quay Trumpler 0 1-4 1, Zaveon Phillips 2 1-7 5, R. Ruffin 3 5-5 12, Clarence Ruffin 9 4-5 24, Pooser 3 1-2 7, Tellis Rios 4 1-2 9. Totals: 21 13- 25 58.

Three-point goals – Aquinas: 4 (Parada, Lloyd 2, Merriweather). Josey: 2 (Ruffin).

Justin Lloyd scored 24 points to lead Aquinas to a 64-58 double overtime win over Josey at home Tuesday. Lloyd, a sophomore, scored or assisted on 6 of Aquinas’s 10 points during the decisive second extra period. Aquinas head coach Patrick Green made special mention of Lloyd’s two assists during that stretch to Lorrick Howard, whose field goals eventually put the Fighting Irish ahead for good at 62-56 with 1:00 minute remaining.

“Justin’s been a great scorer for quite some time. He averaged 12 ppg as a freshman and is right at 16 now as a sophomore. He can typically get whatever shot he wants at all levels, Green explained. “We definitely need his point production. I thought two of his biggest plays came when he penetrated and found an open man for layups late in the game. He’s a really confident kid and I only see him getting better.”

Josey forced the second overtime period when Clarence Ruffin, who led the Eagles with 24 points, deflected an Aquinas inbound pass with 10 seconds remaining on the clock, and Zavion Phillips converted a layup on the other end to tie the game at 54. It was the second time the Eagles fought off defeat with time ticking off the clock. During the fourth quarter, Tellis Rios made an 18-footer with 26 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 48. Rios’s bucket answered a layup on the other end by Patrick Green II, who scored 12 points in the win.

After going 19 days without a game, Green emphasized how valuable the opportunity to play Tuesday was for his team, which will host Hephzibah Wednesday night before opening region play Saturday with a home game against Savannah Country Day.

“I just want to say how proud I am of our guys for competing until the very end. We’re a young team and we continue to show improvement,” Green said. “I definitely think it’s to our benefit to get these games in with Josey and Hephzibah. Thankfully I thought our conditioning was pretty good tonight even after the layoff, but offensively it was obvious we weren’t in rhythm. Hopefully we can get it back before this tough region stretch. I truly believe we have a chance to be in contention in our region. We’ve competed against some quality teams so far. Those dogfights will only make us better.”

Saturday’s game will kick off a three-region-games-in-eight-day stretch for Aquinas (3-6), so coach Green has already identified specific ways he would like to see his team improve Wednesday against Hephzibah in order to get more prepared for league play. The Fighting Irish only made 14 of 34 free throws against Josey, so he started there.

“There’s a lot of areas of improvement for us, but the free throw line is the biggest,” Green explained. “We left way too many points off the scoreboard. We’re too good of a shooting team to not get that corrected. I’m happy we got to the line but we’ve got to knock those down. I also want to see us cut down on turnovers. We certainly can’t play loose with the ball and expect to beat Hephzibah.”

Josey (0-4) will next take the court in January. The Maxpreps.com schedule shows the next game for the Eagles to be January 8, at home against Putnam County.

Girls

#12 Caroline Jackson – Aquinas 

 Briarwood – Gracie Bridges 1 2-4 4, Mackenzie Parrish 1 0-0 2, Phoebe Brooks 2 2-4 6, Finlay Florence 6 0-0 12, Mattie Grae Cheely 2 0-0 5, Kennedy Mosley 8 4-6 22. Totals: 20 8-14 51.

    Aquinas – Susie Hagler 1 0-3 3, Le’Landra Jarvis 5 1-2 12, E. Gladd 3 0-2 7, Caroline Jackson 5 3-4 14, Carlisle Overstreet 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 4-10 37. 

Three-point goals – Briarwood: 2 (Cheely, Mosley). Aquinas: 4 (Hagler, Jarvis, Gladd, Jackson).