LaChance, Aquinas take down Ely

Balanced offense, late-game free throws lift Raiders

FORT LAUDERDALE — St. Thomas Aquinas faced off with Blanche Ely four times last year, with Ely taking three of four. But the Raiders won when it mattered most, beating the Tigers 56-52 in a postseason overtime thriller.

St. Thomas kept rolling against Ely in the teams’ first matchup this year, winning by five at Ely on Dec. 12. The Raiders extended their winning streak against their district rival on Thursday, taking down the Tigers 70-64 at home in Fort Lauderdale.

“These games are really personal to me,” St. Thomas junior guard Bella LaChance said. “Coming into every game after losing to them three times before the regional semifinal, was just really personal. And I know what it takes to beat them.

“They’re a hard, scrappy team. Ja’Leah Williams, literally a five-star ... She’s amazing.”

LaChance, a Fab Five selection and Vanderbilt commit, led the Raiders with 22 points on Thursday. Williams, also a Fab Five pick, led the Tigers with 23 points.

St. Thomas got out to a hot start, thanks to three consecutive three-pointers from Abbey Hsu, a Fab Five pick and Columbia commit who finished the game with 14 points.

“Coach [Oliver Berens] always tells us to put our foot on the pedal and just keep going,” Hsu said. “Don’t even let them take a breath.”

The Raiders built up sizable leads multiple times in the game, including a 10-point lead late in the third quarter. But St. Thomas could not put the Tigers away. Williams hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter to cut the lead back down to seven, and Ely caught fire from there.

The Tigers went on a 10-2 run to start the fourth quarter, evening the score at 55-55. They took the lead back from the Raiders twice in the fourth. But as the clock dwindled, St. Thomas got hot again.

With sophomore Samara Spencer notching six late points in the final quarter (out of 19 total in the game), Hsu scoring three free throws and LaChance adding two, the Raiders used a 10-3 end-of-game run to secure the win.

“Today, I was quite comfortable. Most players, I feel like, would get more nervous,” LaChance said. “But I was like, ‘You know what? We’ve got this.’ I’ve been in this situation against Ely, against some of the other teams. You really just have to stay poised and you really have to be focused and know that you’re going to be the one that comes out on top.”