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| Sacred Heart freshman Aamya Rivera sank 12-of-12 foul shots, and she also hit the game-winning jumper. |
There is one word to describe the plays made by the No. 16 Sacred Heart girls basketball team in the fourth quarter of Tuesday night’s Class S quarterfinal against No. 24 Kolbe Cathedral.
Clutch.
This Hearts team, with no seniors, made enough clutch plays to win inside a loud Alumni Hall. And freshman Aamya Rivera came up with the biggest one of them all.
Rivera’s baseline jumper with two seconds left lifted Sacred Heart to a wild 62-60 victory over Kolbe Cathedral. The Hearts will play No. 5 Thomaston on Friday at 7 p.m. at Kennedy High School. Sacred Heart and Thomaston have met in a semifinal at Kennedy before, but more on that later.
First, the final play.
Victoria Santiago corralled an inbound pass that almost got away. Santiago passed to a moving Adalena Francis. Francis then found an open Rivera on the baseline, and Rivera calmly swished the short jumper. Kolbe couldn’t get a final shot off, and Sacred Heart and its fans celebrated a crazy win.
“I was nervous,” Rivera said. “I wasn’t hitting anything. I just had to let it go in those last couple seconds.”
Before her game winner, Rivera sank an unbelievable 12-of-12 free throws, including an 8-of-8 effort in the fourth quarter. That’s the definition of clutch.
“My little one,” head coach Ron Picard said with a smile, referring to his 5-foot-3 guard. “She made them, made them and made them.”
Also big was the play by Santiago, who turned a near steal into the start of the winning play.
So were the jumpers made by Treasure Coleman, including a bank shot with 1:19 to go that gave the Hearts a 58-56 lead.
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| Sophomore Treasure Coleman puts Sacred Heart ahead late in the fourth quarter. |
The game was far from over, though. Kolbe senior Naomi Harris put in a layup to tie the game at 58. Rivera made two free throws for a 60-58 Hearts lead, but Cougar junior Trinity Bravo made two of her own with 13 seconds left to tie the game at 60.
Sacred Heart called timeout after crossing half court to set up a play with eight seconds left. Coleman had fouled out earlier, so she wasn’t an option. Rivera was, and she made the shot.
Balance was the word when it came to Sacred Heart’s scoring on Wednesday. Rivera led the way with 14 points, but Santiago and Coleman contributed 12 each and Hayley Tucker added 10. What’s crazy about that is Santiago is a junior. Coleman and Tucker are sophomores, and Rivera is a freshman.
Rivera understood the magnitude of what the Hearts had accomplished.
“It’s a big deal, because we’re a young team,” Rivera said.
Sacred Heart has gone from not making the postseason a year ago (6-14) to reaching the semifinal round. Picard for one, wasn’t surprised by what the Hearts did.
“Nothing they did surprised me,” Picard said. “We’ve been working on it since the end of the regular season.”
And Picard also wasn’t surprised by Wednesday’s result.
“I told the girls we’re going to win this game,” Picard said.
Picard was proven right, thanks to some absolutely clutch plays by his Hearts. Sacred Heart now has a chance to reach its first final since 2005. The Hearts have a tall order in Thomaston, but they are also a confident young team. Picard believes in his girls.
“We’re a team, we work together,” Picard said.
And why not? Sacred Heart has gone further than almost anyone thought they would. The Hearts, a team with no seniors, will play for a berth in the Class S state final and a trip to Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday night.
