Crosby’s D.J. Melendez fires up a 3-pointer during his team’s 69-47 win over St. Paul in the quarterfinal round of the Naugatuck Valley League boys basketball tournament on Saturday at Wilby High School in Waterbury. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69)
The top four seeds all advanced in the Naugatuck Valley League boys basketball tournament at Wilby High School.
No. 1 WCA, No. 2 Holy Cross, No. 3 Crosby and No. 4 Wilby all moved on to Monday’s semifinal round, also at Wilby. The Crusaders and Bulldogs play at 5:30 p.m., followed by the defending champion Spartans and Wildcats in their matchup at about 7:30.
WCA (17-4) got its revenge against a Woodland team that beat it in Waterbury during the regular season. The Spartans dropped the upstart 9-seed Hawks, 77-63. Drew Williams had a terrific game with 27 points while Zaire Lott sank five 3-pointers on the way to 21 points. Dylan Rossi took advantage of his opportunities for nine points while Jeremiah Williams and Jonovan Bracey added eight apiece.
Holy Cross (17-4) gave the biggest thrill of the day for city teams, coming back from an 18-point first half deficit for a 60-57 victory over No. 10 Naugatuck. Elijah Parker scored 19 points, and his two biggest buckets were the pair of 3-pointers he sank at the end of the first half to cut the 18-point deficit to 12 at 39-27. Daelyn Roscoe had 13 big points while Jordan Gunthrop added 12. Osahon Obasuyi played big underneath and scored six points. Zy Harge had just four points, but they were all huge. Harge’s layup off an Elijah Parker steal and assist tied the game, 57-57. Harge did it again later in the fourth quarter with a layup for a 59-57 lead. Gunthrop added a free throw with 6.8 seconds left for the final margin of victory. Cross managed to move on despite shooting an abysmal 10-for-28 at the foul line.
Crosby (16-5) began the day with a convincing 69-47 win over No. 6 St. Paul in the first quarterfinal. D.J. Melendez sank four 3-pointers on the way to a game-high 23 points for the Bulldogs. Curtis Ellis (14) and Micah Blackman (10) joined Melendez in double figures, and Elijah Steward added eight points. Crosby trailed early, 4-0, but ripped off a 24-0 run to take control of the game. Logan Rembish led St. Paul (13-8) with 14 points. Ethen Clements (11) and Jason Mathews (10) joined Rembish in double figures.
Wilby (17-4) knocked off No. 5 Seymour, 61-46, behind Brandon Beamon’s 22 points. Beamon scored the 1,000th point of his career during the game. Hikim Trueheart tallied 15 points. There was scoring balance provided by Junisbell Luna (8 points), Louis Howard (7) and Jouseph Nieves (6).
Here’s what happened in the regular season meetings between the semifinalists:
WCA vs. WILBY
Feb. 2: WCA 87, Wilby 71 at WCA
HOLY CROSS vs. CROSBY
Dec. 19: Crosby 68, Holy Cross 64 at Crosby
Feb. 16: Holy Cross 66, Crosby 51 at Holy Cross
GALLERY: Here are my photos from Saturday’s games.
