Trojans Win First Game at Boardwalk Basketball Classic in Wildwood
WILDWOOD, NJ—On Monday afternoon, top ranked St. Thomas Aquinas began holiday tournament play with a match-up versus St. Joseph’s by the Sea from Staten Island in the 2021 Boardwalk Basketball Classic at the Wildwoods Convention Center. Led by senior guard Adam Silas, who had a game high 22 points, the Trojans were able to storm out to a 16-3 first quarter lead, and never look back in a 54-43 win.
Silas made 6 two point field goals, and two threes while also going 4 of 8 from the foul line to lead the way for the Trojans. Scoring 18 of his 22 points in the second half, Silas pumped in 11 of those points in the fourth quarter to help the Trojans pull away from a 32-25 third quarter lead for the victory. Junior Kamal Lee chipped in with 8 points while sophomore Jaden Kelly added 7.
Aquinas had five different players break into the scoring column first period led by Kelly, who had 5 points. St. Joseph’s by the Sea was able to slow the Trojans down in the second quarter as the Vikings outscored Aquinas 6-5 in the frame. The Vikings, led by both Dorian Paki (4 points) and Christian Greeley (4 points), had five different players score in the third to outscore Aquinas again, 16-11 to pull within seven going into the fourth.
The Trojans would not let the Vikings get any closer though as they outscored the Staten Island school by a margin of 22-18 in the final frame for the victory. Six different players, led by Silas, scored for Aquinas in the period including Lee and Samar Abdullah, who each added three. Both teams tallied 14 two point buckets and four treys, but the Trojans outscored St. Joe’s by the Sea by a 14-3 margin from the line.
St. Thomas Aquinas made 14 of 21 from the charity stripe while the Vikings were just 3 of 9. Both teams had six different players break into the scoring column while the Vikings had two players score in double figures. Paki led St. Joe’s by the Sea with a team high 16 points on 7 two point field goals and 2 of 6 from the line while Greeley added 4 two point buckets along with a three for 11 points in the contest.
Aquinas had 6 fouls in the first half, and 10 in the second for a total of 16 team fouls for the game while St. Joseph’s by the Sea committed 7 team fouls in the first half, and 13 in the second half for a total of 20 on the game. With the victory, the Trojans improved to 5-0 on the young season while the Vikings, which began their season on November 24th, had a three game winning streak snapped, and dropped to 3-4.
After having to scramble to get into another holiday tournament after the Joe Silver Holiday Tournament in Hillside was cancelled due to COVID, the Trojans are now scheduled to take on Shawnee on Wednesday at 1:45 PM. The winner of that game will take on the winner of the contest between Hightstown and Archbishop Carroll of Pennsylvania in the Championship on Thursday at 6:30 PM.