The first matchups between the Sacred Heart and Holy Cross basketball teams on Wednesday night resulted in a split. The Crusader girls won the first game played at the Tim McDonald Gymnasium, 66-34, but the Heart boys took the second game, 70-59.
Here’s a little bit about each game:
Holy Cross girls 66, Sacred Heart 34: The Crusader girls dominated most of the game against the Hearts. Three players scored in double figures for Holy Cross — Cayla Howard (18), Mya Zaccagnini (17) and Alyssa Hebb (15). The Crusaders played tough defense and held the Hearts scoreless for over six minutes in the third quarter.
Sacred Heart needs to get healthy to get back on track. Forward Emily Ronalter missed the game due to injury while Aamya Rivera played with an injured left wrist. Mikayla Mobley is not back to full strength, and Paige Carroll came up limping in the second half, though she ended up being OK. Rivera led the Hearts with 15 points.
Sacred Heart boys 70, Holy Cross 59: For the second time in as many games, the Hearts had to deal with some second-half adversity before pulling away from a city opponent. The Sacred Heart lead was trimmed from 16 points to five in the third quarter. They led by seven points entering the fourth quarter, but an 11-3 run to start the fourth quarter put the game away. The Hearts played some strong defense at key times to clinch their 112th straight NVL victory. Lorenzo Washington led Sacred Heart with 28 points. Trevahn Duncan scored 17 points while Caleb Sampson added 12. Connor Tierney fouled out after scoring six points.
Holy Cross must be commended for the effort that it put in to get back into the game. Many an opponent has gone down in blowout fashion against the Hearts after being down by margins similar to the one the Crusaders faced at halftime (43-27). Holy Cross hung in, however, and made it a game before Sacred Heart put the home team away. Akili Evans scored 26 points while Sam Henderlite added 15.
Photo captions — Above: Alyssa Hebb puts up a shot for Holy Cross during the girls game against Sacred Heart. Below: Sacred Heart’s Lorenzo Washington dribbles against Holy Cross’ John Greene during the boys game. (Photos copyright, Sports on CT-69)
Next time
The second doubleheader between these city rivals takes place on Thursday, Feb. 13, at Sacred Heart’s Alumni Hall. The girls play at 5:15, followed by the boys at 7. Get there early.
Gallery
Here are my photos from Wednesday night’s doubleheader.
