Aquinas Knocks Off No. 1 Seed Hays To Open 5A Tourney

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The No. 8-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas Saints upset the Class 5A No. 1-seeded Hays Indians behind balanced scoring and solid guard play in the Class 5A State Tournament being played in Emporia.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Saints knocked off the previously unbeaten Indians 51-48 to advance to the semifinal round in Class 5A.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is a look at four St. Thomas Aquinas prospects who excelled in the opening game on Wednesday afternoon.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='649149' first='Alex' last='Crouse']</strong>, 5'8”, SG/SF, St. Thomas Aquinas, ‘26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Crouse is a gritty player, and I like her size. She is quick which makes her versatile enough to play guard or forward. She scored 21 points to lead the Saints. She has a nice jump shot, can score in transition, and is not afraid to get ugly buckets off offensive rebounds. She hit a couple of clutch 3-pointers in the second half. She ended up scoring the winning basket of the game with an aggressive and impressive drive to the glass with less than 30 seconds to play. She then would hit 1-of-2 free throws to give the Saints their final points of the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='779205' first='Laila' last='Boylan']</strong>, 5'10”, PF, St. Thomas Aquinas, ‘27</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Boylan was the early offensive and defensive catalyst for the Saints. She is super quick and long. She is aggressive with the ball and not afraid to push the pace for her squad. She moves like she is being shot out of a cannon. She scored 18 points for Aquinas. Boylan shot 5-of-13 from the field and did serious work at the free-throw converting on 8-of-10 attempts from the line. Boylan led the Saints in assists with three,</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1216015' first='Nora' last='Goodenow']</strong>, 6'1”, C, St. Thomas Aquinas, ‘27</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Goodenow is going to be a prospect to keep a close eye on. She is a paint monster and plays with a bulldog mentality. She has elbows like Manute Bol and is not afraid to use them. She understands the advantage her size and reach give her, and she plays to those strengths.  The key for Goodenow is to see how she develops offensively. She had two rebounds and chipped in two points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='779210' first='Sofia' last='Calovich']</strong>, 5'10”, PF, St. Thomas Aquinas, ‘27</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Calovich stepped it up in the second half after not having much of an impact in the first half. She is currently ranked No. 15 overall in the Kanas Class of 2027. Calovich is a professional glass cleaner in the making. She finished with a game-high 12 rebounds. She is best suited in the paint and can play any of the three interior positions. She scored seven points in the Saints' victory. Aquinas will play the winner of the game between No. 4 Seed Spring Hill and No. 5 Seed Maize South on Friday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->