While more important wins might still lie ahead for the Bishop Ludden boys basketball team, few, if any, might prove as sweet as going to Rochester last Monday night and rallying late for a 55-53 victory over Aquinas.
This was, after all, the same Little Irish team that had handed the state Class AA no. 8-ranked Gaelic Knights its only defeat of the season in the Dec. 28 final of the Rosemary Corcoran Holiday Classic, a 58-45 decision where Aquinas dominated Ludden on the boards.
Determined to change that outcome, the Gaelic Knights first had to weather a terrible start where it fell behind, 17-4. Gradually, Ludden settled in and, most importantly, did a better job grabbing boards, aided in that effort by eighth-grader Jai Smith, who finished with 10 rebounds and six assists, to go with six points.
Having cut its deficit to three, 27-24, by halftime, Ludden saw Aquinas regain much of that lead before the fourth quarter. Then the Gaelic Knights charged, seizing a one-point lead with a 14 -4 push before Mika Adams-Woods’ pair of free throws made it 53-50 with less than a minute left.
Aquinas tied it, 53-53, on a 3-pointer, but instead of calling time-out, Ludden just handed the ball to Adams-Woods, who dribbled down the left side, moved to the middle, returned to the left and then drove down the left lane, floating a shot off the glass that dropped in with 3.5 seconds left.
It marked the second time this season Ludden won on a last-second basket by Adams-Woods, having done the same to beat Jamesville-DeWitt 53-51 on Jan. 27. All told, Adams-Woods had 14 points to lead a balanced attack where Ed Walser had 13 points and Joe Connor contributed 12 points.
Following that, Ludden would not play until Saturday, when it hosted Syracuse Academy of Science. By then, Len Rauch had taken over head-coaching duties as Pat Donnelly, facing a health situation, would sit out that game plus Tuesday’s ‘Holy War’ at Christian Brothers Academy.
Rauch had to watch the Atoms hand the Gaelic Knights its second defeat of the season in an 83-77 battle where SAS bolted to a 23-13 lead by the end of the first quarter. Thus, it had a cushion as Ludden ate into that deficit over the course of the next two periods and inched out in front, 62-61, heading to the fourth quarter.
Keeping its poise, the Atoms reclaimed the lead in the final minutes and held on as five players scored in double figures. Symir Torrence led with 27 points, six assists and five rebounds, while Khari Odom had 18 points. Noreon Williams had 15 points, six rebounds and three assists as Kenyang Lual got 11 points and nine rebounds and Nessiah Smith added 10 points.
Ludden lost despite its own nice scoring balance, from Adams-Woods earning 16 points to Keandre Sanders notching 15 points in his last regular-season home game. Walser had 13 points as Smith grabbed 12 points, Connor eight points and Sh’ikem Lee six points.
So now the Gaelic Knights were 17-2 going into the ‘Holy War’, having beaten CBA on Jan. 14 in the Pathfinder Zebra Classic at Le Moyne Classic and with the Brothers having just surrendered an eight-point lead in the last 90 seconds of last Friday’s home defeat to Bishop Grimes, a team Ludden has beaten twice this winter.
