No. 4 Sacred Heart was the higher-ranked team in its Division I boys basketball state tournament than its second round opponent, No. 13 Fairfield Prep. The location of the game, however, made it feel closer to home for the Jesuits.
The Hearts traveled an hour to Wilton, but left a couple hours later with a 69-54 second round win at Wilton High School. Jamaal Waters led a very balanced Sacred Heart attack with 22 points. Nate Tabor (14 points), Lorenzo Washington (11) and Connor Tierney (10) also hit double figures, and Omar Rowe (9) almost joined them.
Sacred Heart faces No. 5 Trumbull in a Division I quarterfinal game next Monday at 7 p.m. at Pomperaug High School in Southbury.
No. 5 Valley Regional 55, No. 12 Kaynor Tech 49
The Panthers traveled to Deep River and played a close game Thursday, but the Warriors claimed the Division V second round win.
Masai Johnson led Kaynor with 12 points while Saijon McIntosh added 11 points. The Panthers also got nine points from Nashua Lovett and eight points from Jazir Davis. Kaynor finished the season at 12-10. It was the final game for Panther seniors Lovett, McIntosh, Quinten Asiedu and John Roscoe.
No. 1 East Catholic 71, No. 16 Holy Cross 56
The Crusaders gave the Eagles all they could handle in a Division I second round game at Plainville High School before succumbing to a late run.
Holy Cross used an 18-11 third quarter to trim the East Catholic lead to just two points, 46-44. The Eagles outscored the Crusaders 25-12 in the final quarter to put the game away.
Akili Evans led Holy Cross with 20 points. Gaely Etienne added 14 points and Qaron Brown chipped in eight points. Jack Greene and Kyle Lombardi contributed six points apiece. The Crusaders finished the season with a record of 13-10. It was the final game for Holy Cross seniors Etienne, Brown, Jack Greene, William Greene, Kyle Moser, Alex Ward, Andre Stevenson and Jack Schiavone.
No. 6 New Britain 75, No. 11 Crosby 60
The Bulldogs made a trip to New Britain for a tough Division II second round road game Wednesday, and the Golden Hurricanes sent them home with a loss.
Jordan Santos led three Crosby scorers in double figures with 18 points. Kerwin Prince scored 15 points, Tyler Spears added 12 points, and Justin Davis tallied seven points. The Bulldogs finished the season with a record of 15-9. It was the final game for Crosby seniors Prince, Santos, Spears, Rahmel Reid and Shakyle Barnaby.
No. 4 Manchester 85, No. 13 Waterbury Career Academy 54
The Spartans became the second straight NVL team to drop a Division II game to the Indians after Kennedy.
Marquan Watson and Jonathan Edwards scored 17 points apiece for WCA while Langstun Racine added 13 points. The Spartans finished the season with a record of 14-10. It was the final game for WCA seniors Watson, Racine, Khalil Hunter and Kobi Hunter.
No. 5 St. Bernard 71, No. 12 Wolcott 50
The Eagles couldn’t recover after a tough first quarter and were eliminated in their Division IV second round road game against the Saints.
Christopher Harris led Wolcott with 19 points while Jack Drewry added 12 points. The Eagles were outscored 22-4 in the first quarter. Wolcott finished the season with a record of 14-8. It was the final game for Eagle seniors Harris, Drewry, Elmin Redzepagic, Jeff Nichol, Dane Hassan, Dean Howell, Dylan Tumel, Sean Cepelak and Enis Maksudoski.
