The Holy Cross girls basketball team got to experience something unusual on Monday evening on Frank Lombardo Court in the Timothy J. McDonald Gymnasium.
It’s not often that the No. 1 and 2 teams in the state face off during the regular season, yet here were the No. 2 Crusaders hosting the No. 1 Northwest Catholic Lions of West Hartford. Holy Cross put up a good effort in front of a spirited home crowd, but Northwest took a 64-53 win. The Crusaders fell to 11-1 on the season while the Lions remained perfect at 13-0.
Northwest junior Abby Casper was a big problem, which comes as no surprise to this writer (I saw Casper play against East Catholic-Manchester in the Anthony Ireland Holiday Classic Invitational, and she is really, really good). Casper, a six-foot junior who can play both inside and outside, led all scorers with 20 points. Samantha Casper, Abby’s freshman sister, had 15 points while juniors Maeve Staunton (12) and Zoey Canning (10) also hit double figures.
For Holy Cross, senior Shania Howard led the way with 18 points while junior Quinn Barry added 10. Sophomore Mia Mattaboni tallied nine points and senior Isabella Lombardo added seven.
Northwest was ahead, 13-6, after one quarter but needed a late three from Staunton to secure a 25-22 halftime lead. The Lions really got going in the third quarter, outscoring the Crusaders, 25-17, for a 50-39 advantage. The lead reached 16 points in the fourth quarter before Holy Cross went on an 8-0 run.
Northwest, the top-ranked team in Class L, is really, really good and has to be the favorite to win the state championship. The good news for Holy Cross is it learned some valuable lessons against a terrific opponent, and it’s not in the same class. The Crusaders opted into Class LL, where they are second behind undefeated Greenwich (10-0).
Holy Cross gets right back to work tonight at seven o’clock against a vastly improved Wilby (8-3) team, which is led by first-year head coach Casey Carangelo, a former Thomaston star and Division I college basketball player. The Wildcats are in the top 10 in the Class L playoff rankings.
