GIRLS HOOP: Holy Cross begins with blowout win

Bristol Eastern and Bristol Central girls basketball each opened their seasons with losses on Monday night.
For everyone else in the area sans Kaynor Tech, the season tipped off on Tuesday night.
Coming away with victories were Holy Cross, Kennedy, St. Paul, Sacred Heart and Wolcott.

We’ll start with the defending NVL Tournament champion:
Holy Cross girls basketball lost a lot to graduation.
Gone are Rashana Siders, who was league player of the week at AIC. Caitlin Cipriano is also playing in college. Cipriano and Kaitlyn Grimshaw provided some good interior play, but both are gone.
Also not playing until at least the 2017 portion of the season is Century McCartney, a talented junior rehabbing from knee surgery.
So what did this Holy Cross team have in store for Watertown, which lost dominant post player Abby Collier to graduation?
More of the same Crusader basketball, that’s what. Holy Cross ran away from Watertown for a 65-33 victory inside McDonald Gymnasium, also known as The Pit.
Holy Cross led 25-14 after what was a foul-laden first half, according to Joe Palladino of The Zone (Waterbury Rep-Am). The Crusaders used a 27-7 outburst in the third quarter to pull away.
Kennedy 47, Ansonia 32: The Eagles opened up what they hope to be another big season with a win over the Chargers at home.
St. Paul 57, Waterbury Career Academy 27: The Falcons didn’t make life easy for the Spartans in their first NVL game.
St. Paul won easily behind the efforts of Brigid Johndrow, who had 11 rebounds and 10 assists to go along with four points. Those numbers were reported to the Hartford Courant.
Sacred Heart 42, Naugatuck 22: The Hearts put together a good defensive effort in a home win over the Greyhounds at Alumni Hall.
Wolcott 56, Wilby 15: The Eagles, who have a lot returning to their roster, opened with a blowout win at home over the Wildcats.
Oxford 53, Crosby 43: The young Bulldogs lost on the road to begin their season.