The NVL boys basketball tournament begins on Saturday at Wilby High School, and everyone is chasing Sacred Heart, again.
The top-seeded Hearts, who have won 102 straight games against NVL foes, are a talented group, and they may have Nate Tabor available. Tabor, who has faced some school discipline this season, has been declared available by the Sacred Heart administration, according to multiple reports. Head coach Jon Carroll will have the final say, according to a story from Joe Morelli on GameTimeCT. With Tabor, the Hearts are a big-time favorite to win a fifth straight NVL tournament title.
The NVL tournament begins with No. 3 Torrington facing No. 6 Wolcott at 11 a.m. The teams split their regular season meetings against each other, and both games were close. It’ll be interesting to see if it’s high-scoring (93-87 Wolcott on Jan. 8) or not as much (57-47 Torrington on Feb. 7).
At about 12:45 p.m., No. 2 Naugatuck plays No. 7 Crosby. The Greyhounds made a great run to the Iron Division title and the second-best seed behind the dynamic John Lukau. On the other side, the Bulldogs will be looking for big performances from Kerwin Prince, Tyler Spears, Justin Davis and company.
At about 2:30 p.m., No. 4 Holy Cross takes on No. 5 Waterbury Career Academy in the only matchup involving two local teams. Like the Torrington-Wolcott matchup, each team in this game won at home in the two regular season meetings. Both games were decided by six points, which means there could be another close game in store for those inside the Reggie O’Brien Gymnasium.
No. 1 Sacred Heart will play in the quarterfinal finale against No. 8 Ansonia at about 4:15 p.m. The teams met once this season, in the opener for both teams, and the Hearts won going away. The Chargers will try to bounce back from a two-game losing streak that concluded their regular season, including a buzzer-beater by Akili Evans in a 54-52 defeat against Holy Cross on Tuesday.
The semifinals are Monday and the final is on Wednesday. Both of those rounds will be played at Wilby.
