The Holy Cross and Sacred Heart girls basketball teams each play state quarterfinal games tonight.
In Class L, the top-seeded Crusaders host No. 8 Guilford of the Southern Connecticut Conference at 7 p.m. In Class S, the upstart No. 16 Hearts host No. 24 Kolbe Cathedral (Bridgeport) of the South-West Conference at 7:30 in the second game of a boy-girl state doubleheader.
Here’s a quick look at both games:
CLASS L QUARTERFINALS
No. 1 Holy Cross vs. No. 8 Guilford
The Crusaders whipped NVL foe Crosby, No. 32, by a score of 83-31 before knocking off No. 16 Sheehan of the SCC 59-34. Holy Cross went 19-1 in the regular season and reached the NVL final before losing convincingly to St. Paul.
Holy Cross has gotten various solid efforts from its players, led by senior Idalis Miranda. There’s also been juniors Aiyana Ward and Meah Austin on the inside, along with fellow junior Century McCartney. The Crusaders will look for a balanced effort again, on offense and defense, to try to advance to the semifinals.
Guilford: The Indians have eliminated two CCC foes, No. 25 Platt and No. 9 Farmington, on their way to the quarterfinal round. Guilford went 14-6 in the regular season, but that was only good enough for a No. 10 seed in the rugged SCC. The Indians took down No. 7 Hillhouse 51-44 in the first round before losing 63-49 to No. 2 Daniel Hand, the eventual tournament champion, in the quarterfinals.
Common opponent: Mercy — Holy Cross lost in the CPTV Tip-Off Classic while Guilford dropped a pair of regular season matchups.
CLASS S QUARTERFINALS
No. 16 Sacred Heart vs. No. 24 Kolbe Cathedral
OK, who saw Sacred Heart hosting a game after the 16-17 first round matchup? Now go ahead and put your hands down.
The Hearts knocked off No. 17 Putnam of the Constitution State Conference by a 37-23 margin at home, then stunned top-seeded East Hampton of the Shoreline Conference 44-26 on its home floor in the second round.
Because of Sacred Heart’s second round win and Kolbe’s bashing of No. 8 Achievement First (54-32), the Hearts get another home game.
Sophomore Hayley Tucker, junior Victoria Santiago, sophomore Treasure Coleman and freshman Aamya Rivera led a balanced offensive attack for Sacred Heart in the low-scoring Putnam game. In the second game, Santiago came with a rebound of a double-double (22 points, 9 boards) while junior Jenna Madigan snatched 11 rebounds in the upset of East Hampton.
Sacred Heart hopes to have all hands on deck against Kolbe as it looks to get to the Class S semifinal round.
Kolbe Cathedral: The Cougars dropped No. 9 Gilbert of the Berkshire League by a score of 54-35 before hammering No. 8 Achievement First of the Capitol Region Athletic League. Kolbe was 11-9 in the South-West Conference during the regular season. The Cougars didn’t qualify for the SWC Tournament, but they had some close losses to some good teams, including a five-point defeat against reigning ‘S’ champion Canton.
Common opponent: None.
