Trojans Defense Shuts Down Renegades to Punch Ticket to Championship at Wildwood
WILDWOOD, NJ—After defeating St. Joseph’s by the Sea of Staten Island in its first game in the 2021 Boardwalk Basketball Classic at the Wildwoods Convention Center on Monday afternoon, the top ranked Trojans of St. Thomas Aquinas returned to the hardwood to face Shawnee on Wednesday afternoon. Behind tough defense, the Trojans downed the Renegades, 44-29 to advance to the title game on Thursday.
Once again, senior guard, Adam Silas, who entered holiday tournament play averaging over 18 points per game, and then scored a game high 22 in the victory over St. Joe’s by the Sea on Monday, led the charge again for the Trojans with another game high of 15 points. Junior Terrell Pitts, who only scored 5 points in the victory on Monday, chipped in with 14 while Samar Abdullah added 7.
Silas made five two point field goals and a three pointer while knocking down both of his free throw attempts for his game high 15. Pitts made 7 two point field goals for his 14. Pitts scored 10 of his points in the fourth as Aquinas outscored Shawnee by a margin of 15-9 to close out the victory. Silas scored 10 of his points in the first half including all 6 of the Trojans points in the second to pace Aquinas to a 22-14 halftime lead.
Shawnee, who had six different players score in the contest, but nobody in double figures, was led by Dwight Matthews, who had a team high 8 points on four field goals while both Andrew Ball and Ryan Senft each chipped in with 6, and Matt Fish added 5. Aquinas outscored Shawnee 30-28 from inside the arc, and 6-0 from beyond the arc while making 8 of 14 from the foul line. Shawnee was only 3 of 11 from the charity stripe.
Aquinas had more team fouls (13-11) while neither team had a player foul out. The Trojans also got off to another strong start by outscoring the Renegades by a 16-8 margin in the first period. So far in the tournament, St. Thomas Aquinas has outscored its foes 32-11 in the opening frame. With the victory, the Trojans improved to 6-0 on the season while Shawnee dropped its first game of the season, and fell to 3-1.
The Trojans will now take on Archbishop Carroll of Radnor Pennsylvania in the Championship Game on Thursday night at 6:30 PM. Archbishop Carroll advanced to the final by virtue of its 69-38 victory over Hightstown on Wednesday.