St. Thomas Aquinas holds off rival Doyle to reach Sugar Bowl semifinal

To say St. Thomas Aquinas and Doyle are familiar foes would be an understatement.

The District 10-2A rivals played the first of a trio of games at the 10th Annual Allstate Sugar Bowl National Prep Classic Friday afternoon at the Alario Center.

After splitting a pair of district matchups a year ago, both teams are poised to make runs at state championships in 2020.

If the first meeting is an indication of the shape of things to come, you should not miss the district contests on Jan. 17 and Feb. 4.

Junior Jaylyn James put on a show as defending Division III state champion St. Thomas Aquinas downed Doyle 76-72 in a battle of unbeatens.

James ,who earned Most Outstanding Player honors as the Falcons won the state title last season, was sensational with 41 points, 16 rebounds, five blocks, five steals and three assists.

The Falcons jumped out to a 7-2 lead before Doyle took a 15-14 lead in the first quarter. The Falcons led 20-19 at the end of one frame behind 12 points by James.

In the second quarter, the Falcons had a 5-0 run and led 38-32 by halftime behind 19 points and 11 rebounds by James.

St. Thomas Aquinas widened the lead to 57-45 after three quarters.

The Falcons (19-0) built a comfortable 63-48 lead before Doyle stormed back, cutting the deficit to 74-72 but James calmly sank a pair of free throws with two seconds left to put the game away.

Jade Brumfield scored 25 points, including 13-of-14 from the free throw line. Brumfield added eight rebounds.

Claire Glasnock led the Lady Tigers (16-1) with 27 points, including five 3-pointers. Meghan Watson had 13 points and seven rebounds while Elise Jones and Presleigh Scott each contributed 10 points.

With the win, St. Thomas Aquinas advances to face LaGrange Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. with the winners moving on the final Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. live at CrescentCitySports.com.

FINAL
STA 20 18 19 19 — 76
Doyle 19 13 13 27 — 72

Scoring:
STA: Jaylyn James 41, Jade Brumfield 25, Brenna Becerra 4, Lillian Maggio 3,Madelyn Nicaud 2 Kayla Keller 1

Doyle: Claire Glascock 27, Meghan Watson 13, Elise Jones 10, Presleigh Scott 10, Kourtlyn Lacey 7, Madison Duhon 5