After missing out for six straight years, St. Thomas Aquinas books a place in the quarter-finals St. Thomas Aquinas SHS the “Old Toms” have finally broken their prelims curse, sealing qualification to the one-eighth stage after outclassing regional giants Tamale SHS and O’Reilly SHS in a fiercely contested five-round showdown at Auditorium 900.

The three schools came in with different baggage: Tamale SHS (TAMASCO) had been a seeded school for five consecutive years, O’Reilly came hunting for a shake-up moment, and Aquinas came with a simple mission, break the jinx or go home again.

After a stiff Round 1 start, Aquinas surged and never let go, finishing the contest strongly ahead of the pack. Final scores across the five rounds:
• St. Thomas Aquinas SHS — 22 → 30 → 35 → 45 → 51
• Tamale SHS — 9 → 24 → 27 → 34 → 37
• O’Reilly SHS — 9 → 9 → 12 → 22 → 25

For Aquinas, this is more than just a win. Their last time as a seeded school was 2019 and for six seasons they have crashed out early. Today’s victory not only books them a quarter final slot, it also snatches TAMASCO’s seed ending their five-year seeded run.

Celebrating after the contest, Aquinas made it clear they aren’t just happy to be back they’re coming with force.

“People think we’ve been gone, but we are here to make a statement this year and this is only Phase One,” one of the contestants told JoyNew’s Jacqueline Ansomah Yeboah after the win.

As the quarterfinal stage approaches on Thursday, Aquinas joins the returning elites but this time not as underdogs, but as a school with something to prove and momentum to match.