The first NVL boys basketball tournament semifinal had a ton of offense. In the second semifinal, the winner turned defense into offense and ran away with a win.
When the night ended Monday at Wilby High School, top-seeded Sacred Heart and third-seeded Torrington had secured spots in the NVL final, which is scheduled for Wednesday, weather permitting. The Red Raiders shot and ran their way to a 95-83 win over the Crosby Bulldogs in the first game of the doubleheader. The Hearts ran away from the Waterbury Career Academy Spartans 80-55 in the second game to make their fifth straight NVL final. Sacred Heart is looking for its fifth straight NVL title.
Here’s what happened in each game:
Torrington 95, Crosby 83
In a tournament that had already seen a ton of 3-pointers, the Raiders connected on 13 of them. Torrington got what it wanted for most of the game on the way to the win. Tyreek Davis had a team-high 35 points and connected on five 3-pointers, as did C.J. Root, who tallied 15 points. Joel Villanueva scored 19 points while Dontae Thomas ran the offense efficiently and chipped in 13 points. The Raiders, a senior-laden group, played well together and put on an offensive clinic.
Kerwin Prince led all scorers in the semifinals with 42 points for Crosby. Justin Davis tallied 26 points for the Bulldogs, who had all sorts of trouble defensively. Crosby made eight 3-poniters in the game.
Torrington led 25-20 after one quarter, then extended the lead to 52-38 — you read that right, 52 points — by halftime. A 30-point third quarter put the Raiders ahead 82-62.
Sacred Heart 80, WCA 55
The Hearts got 26 points from All-NVL snub Nate Tabor — more on that later in this story — along with 24 points from Jamaal Waters. What was more impressive was the lack of points that two key Spartans had because of the defense by the Hearts.
Langstun Racine (2 points) and Jonathan Edwards (0 points) combined for two points, which came on two free throws. Elite defender Lorenzo Washington guarded both of them at different times and made life difficult, to say the least. Marquan Watson led all scorers in the game with 33 points for WCA.
Sacred Heart sank nine 3-pointers, including five from Tabor. Lawrence Lazaro (14 points) got the Spartans to within 14-12 on a fastbreak layup, but Tabor hit one of his 3-pointers to up the Heart lead to 17-12. A basket from Waters late in the first quarter put the Hearts ahead 19-12 after one.
Sacred Heart extended its lead to 37-25 by halftime, and it got help from reserve Tre Duncan. WCA was down by six points when Duncan connected on one of his two second quarter 3-pointers to make the score 32-23. Tabor had a basket to up the lead to 34-23, then Duncan connected on another 3-pointer for a 37-23 advantage.
Sacred Heart blew the game open in the third quarter. The Hearts outscored the Spartans 24-12 in the third quarter to go ahead 61-37. Sacred Heart used its speed and length to force turnovers, then got out and ran. When the Spartans got a chance to attempt a shot, they had to contend with the length of players like Connor Tierney and Waters.
All-NVL
The league’s all-star teams were recognized, but missing from the All-NVL and All-Brass Division photos were Sacred Heart players. Tabor wasn’t chosen an All-NVL player — or even an All-Brass player — and the Hearts decided to not take part in the all-star recognition, which took place in between games.
Tabor was disciplined by the school on separate occasions this season, but played in 15 of 20 regular season games and was the best player in the league. Here are the locals who made the all-star teams:
All-NVL
Tyreek Davis, Torrington
Jahwan Cody, Derby
John Lukau, Naugatuck
Kerwin Prince, Crosby
Elmin Redzepagic, Wolcott
Tyler Spears, Crosby
Dante Thomas, Torrington
Marquan Watson, WCA (top NVL senior)
Jamaal Waters, Sacred Heart
All-Brass
Omar Rowe, Sacred Heart
Connor Tierney, Sacred Heart
Jay Turner, Kennedy
Matt Torres, Kennedy
Jack Greene, Holy Cross
Justin Davis, Crosby
All-Iron
Jack Drewry, Wolcott
Chris Harris, Wolcott
Noah Waters, St. Paul
Galleries
My photos from the Crosby-Torrington semifinal.
My photos from the Sacred Heart-WCA semifinal.
