The Holy Cross boys basketball team trailed Crosby 60-47 after three quarters in their NVL showdown on Friday night inside Tim McDonald Gymnasium.
Then Kerson Etienne and company went wild. The Crusaders outscored the Bulldogs 30-12 in the fourth quarter and scored a crazy 77-72 victory in The Pit. Etienne led Holy Cross with 29, but he had help scoring from Nyzair Rountree, who had 19, according to Joe Palladino of the Waterbury Republican-American. Etienne is up for CPTV Sports UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week.
The Crusaders also don’t win without the contributions of Jack Potter, Marcellus Gomes and DeAndre Wallace.
Holy Cross improved to 11-1 while Crosby dropped to 8-4 after its only game of the week. Here’s how the rest of the week went for the Crusaders:
Holy Cross — The Crusaders played Kaynor Tech on the road Thursday and blew them out by a score of 72-39. Holy Cross has won seven straight games.
Sacred Heart: The Hearts were scheduled to play three games this week, but they will only end up playing two.
Sacred Heart saw its game against Kennedy pushed to Sunday at 4 p.m. at Alumni Hall. The Hearts played Waterbury Career Academy on Thursday at home and closed out the Spartans by a score of 69-58. Isaiah Gaiter went off for 27 points in the game while Raheem Solomon and Legend Johnson also hit double figures.
Sacred Heart was supposed to play Ansonia at home on Friday, but a power outage downtown forced the postponement of the game to Feb. 20.
The win over WCA raised Sacred Heart’s record to 10-0.
Kennedy: Speaking of the Eagles, they are 10-1 and have won six straight games entering the showdown Sunday against Sacred Heart.
On Friday, Kennedy blasted Woodland 74-33 at home. Chomari Joseph, William Spears, Tyvon Stenson and Jeremy Acosta all hit double figures in the win over the Hawks. Twelve different Eagles scored in the game.
Waterbury Career Academy: The Spartans lost both games they played, 70-57 to Wilby and 69-58 to Sacred Heart.
In the loss to Sacred Heart, Marquan Watson, Jadan Battle and Kyren Petteway all scored in double figures. WCA is 7-5 with eight games left in the regular season. The Spartans look to get back on track against Wolcott on Monday after losing four of their last six games.
Wilby: The Wildcats won both games they played to improve to 5-6.
Wilby beat WCA 70-57 on Wednesday, thanks in part to a massive effort at the foul line, according to a story by Palladiano. On Friday, the Wildcats outran Torrington at home by a score of 86-71.
Wilby opens this week with Oxford on Monday, but then has tough matchups with Crosby on Wednesday and Sacred Heart on Friday.
Kaynor Tech: The Panthers broke an eight-game losing streak with Friday’s 65-51 win over Platt Tech at home.
Kaynor Tech had lost 72-39 to Holy Cross the night before, but rebounded against its Constitution State Conference foe.
Chase Collegiate: The Highlanders played three times this past week.
Chase had two losses sandwiched around a win and sits at 2-8. The Highlanders won 58-56 over the Forman School on Friday, but lost to the Wooster School on Wednesday (76-42) and the Watkinson School on Saturday (56-31).
GIRLS BASKETBALL
When looking at girls hoop in the city, look no further than Holy Cross and Kennedy.
The Crusaders were off this week while the Eagles hosted Sacred Heart and Kaynor Tech. Here’s what happened with Kennedy: The Eagles pulled away for a 60-42 win over Sacred Heart on Wednesday, then blew out Kaynor Tech 51-28 Thursday.
Kennedy is 11-3 on the season.
Sacred Heart: After a tough loss at Kennedy on Wednesday, the Hearts rocked Ansonia 67-26 Friday on the road.
Sacred Heart improved to 9-5 on the regular season. The backcourt combination of Treasure Coleman (19 points) and Aamya Rivera (16) went off for 35 points in the Ansonia win.
Crosby: The Bulldogs had a very successful week and doubled their win total for the season.
Crosby started with a 53-27 win over Terryville on the road Thursday, then squeaked past Woodland 39-38 on Friday in Beacon Falls. Tiahna Pulliam had 12 points for the Bulldogs in the Woodland game. Pulliam, Da’Ahjah Heath and Gloria Vergeli all hit double figures in the Terryville game.
The Bulldogs improved to 4-8 with the victories.
Wilby: The Wildcats lost to Torrington in their only game of the week and dropped to 0-13.
WCA: The Spartans were off this week. WCA plays its next game Monday at Wolcott.
Kaynor Tech: The Panthers split their two games and sit at 9-5 with six contests left.
Kaynor Tech lost 51-28 to Kennedy on Thursday, then rebounded with a 67-38 victory over Platt Tech on Friday.
Chase: The Highlanders lost to the Wooster and Canterbury schools.
Chase is now 3-7 on the season, 3-2 in the Housatonic Valley Athletic League.
INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
