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| The Sacred Heart boys are in the semifinals, along with three other NVL teams. |
There are people out there who believe the top-seeded Sacred Heart boys basketball team hasn’t been challenged for most of its undefeated run so far this season.
That is quite wrong.
The Hearts (26-0) faced a strong test from No. 9 Windsor in a Class L quarterfinal game Monday night at Alumni Hall, and the three-time defending state champions passed, claiming a 58-52 victory.
Isaiah Gaiter led three Hearts in double figures with 16 points. Courie Stevenson tallied 13 points while Legend Johnson added 12 points. Mikey West scored nine points and Omar Rowe had eight points. All did things besides score, as did Peyton Stephens, Tariq West and Andre Anderson, who contributed minutes and effort.
Sacred Heart seems to be motivated by more than just its quest for a fourth straight state title.
“I am pretty proud,” said head coach Jon Carroll of his team.
Then, Carroll defended the route his team has taken.
“The NVL has kind of taken a beating all year, in terms of quality,” Carroll said.
In the Brass Division in particular, city teams played 10 games. A city game is a battle, whether it’s against state semifinalists like Sacred Heart, Holy Cross, Kennedy and Waterbury Career Academy, or a quarterfinalist like Crosby. Wilby, which struggled for much of the season, also made the state tournament. Outside of the Brass, St. Paul and Seymour were quarterfinalists.
“It prepared our teams pretty well,” Carroll said of the schedule.
When Monday’s action began, there were six NVL teams still alive and kicking, if you include St. Paul. Even after losses by Crosby and St. Paul, there are four NVL teams in the semifinals. Sacred Heart, whom people including myself thought was in trouble, is one of them. I’m more than happy to eat my fair share of crow for that.
“I think [the NVL] helped us,” Gaiter said. “People think the NVL is a weak conference. We have four teams in the state semifinals. This conference is a strong conference.”
Four state semifinalists, and there were seven quarterfinalists if you include Seymour. Yeah, the NVL is weak. Sorry, but that’s just wrong.
No matter what happens over the next week — when we do see games played again — the NVL has proven it’s a solid league. And the Brass Division may be one of the toughest in the state.
