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| Sacred Heart’s Raheem Solomon launches a 3-pointer. He had four of them in a 31-point effort for the Hearts. |
The NVL boys basketball quarterfinals on Saturday all ended with one-sided margins.
Here were the final scores from the Reggie O’Brien Gymnasium at Wilby High School:
No. 2 Holy Cross 90, No. 7 Seymour 69
No. 3 Kennedy 104, No. 6 Torrington 68
No. 5 Crosby 81, No. 4 St. Paul 55
No. 1 Sacred Heart 82, No. 8 Naugatuck 43
That’s right. The closest margin of victory in any game on Saturday was Holy Cross’ 21-point margin against Seymour.
It was a tough day of basketball at The Reg. The average margin of victory was 30.5 points. Monday’s semifinals should be better. No. 2 Holy Cross and No. 3 Kennedy meet in the first game at 5 p.m., followed by No. 1 Sacred Heart and No. 5 Crosby at 7 p.m. Both games are at Wilby.
Here’s an overview of each quarterfinal:
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| Holy Cross’ Nyzair Rountree throws down one of a bushel of dunks that he had Saturday. |
No. 2 Holy Cross 90,
No. 7 Seymour 69
The game actually was close at halftime with the Crusaders ahead by just four points, 37-33. Holy Cross used a strong third quarter to open up the game, then ran away for the win.
DeAndre Wallace led the Crusaders’ tough foursome with 24 points, most of it coming when he attacked the basket either on his shot or off a rebound. Nyzair Rountree had 20 points, including a bushel of dunks. Marcellus Gomes put in 15 points while Kerson Etienne tallied 13 points.
“On offense, they executed it, and they got the ball where we wanted the ball to go,” Holy Cross head coach Ryan Olsen said.
On defense, it was pressure, pressure and more pressure. The Crusaders were also a little extra motivated after the halftime break.
“I had to lay into them, first time all year,” Olsen said.
What changed for Holy Cross? Better execution, on both offense and defense.
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| Kennedy’s Chomari Joseph goes up in traffic. |
No. 3 Kennedy 104,
No. 6 Torrington 68
At one point in the first quarter, Eagles head coach Ryan Sullivan called timeout and lit into his team. Sullivan felt defense and overall speed was lacking from his team.
Kennedy led Torrington just 22-20 after one quarter, then extended the advantage to 44-30 by halftime. After the break, it was all Eagles.
Sullivan’s message was simple to Kennedy.
“If you turn up the defensive intensity, you’ll get layups,” Sullivan said.
The Eagles seemed to be attacking the basket at every moment of the second half as they scored 60 points. For the game, Ty Sands led with 23 points.
“He does a little bit of everything,” Sullivan said.
Chomari Joseph was one of two eagles with 18 points.
“Chomari Joseph played well in the second half,” Sullivan said.
Tyvon Stenson was his usual steady self and also scored 18 points. Lashawn Smith tallied 17 points while William Spears added 13 points. Sullivan liked the way Spears played.
“I thought my sophomore William Spears was excellent,” Sullivan said.
Kennedy’s game is to get out and run, and it did after the first quarter.
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| Crosby’s Jeremiah Kendall (left) makes a nice pass to Nosa Igbinewuare, right, for the basket. |
No. 5 Crosby 81,
No. 4 St. Paul 55
The Bulldogs rained down 18 3-pointers in the regular season finale between the teams on Wednesday.
Crosby again made it rain from three-point land, canning 14 3-pointers on the way to a second straight rout of St. Paul. A key to the offensive outburst was a lineup shift Bulldogs head coach Nick Augelli made. For the starting five Saturday, Augelli shifted Markeese Days to center. That move allowed Jeremiah Kendall to stretch the floor with both his outside shooting and his ability to drive. It also gave Crosby two big three-point threats in Kendall and Miguel Rivera.
“I have had the same starting lineup for four or five games this year,” Augelli said.
Kendall (34 points) and Rivera (20 points) hit five 3-pointers apiece. Tarique Foggie (10 points) made two treys while Elijah Carter and Marquel Jackson-Smith added one each.
On defense, Crosby was active and harassed St. Paul for much of the game. The Falcons could never get a rhythm — or get comfortable — and were run off the floor by the Bulldogs. That’s exactly what Augelli wanted from his defense.
“Defensively, we’re starting to play with a little more intensity,” Augelli said.
Crosby’s three-point shooting ability means teams can’t double Kendall inside as much as they may want to. Kendall and Rivera, both senior captains, are helping to lead the way.
Tyler Arbuckle led St. Paul with 27 points, but he had to work hard to get them. Arbuckle was also the only Falcon in double figures. Austin Jones scored eight points while Matt Garry tallied six.
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| Sacred Heart’s Legend Johnson (2) puts up a 3-pointer from the corner. |
No. 1 Sacred Heart 82,
No. 8 Naugatuck 43
The Hearts built a 19-point lead, but the Greyhounds quickly cut it back with outside shooting and mistakes by the top seed.
“We had two travel calls down here and they hit a couple 3s, and that 19-point lead was down to 13,” Sacred Heart head coach Jon Carroll said. “That’s the kind of lapse that doesn’t hurt us here, but could down the road.
Up 32-22 at halftime, Carroll asked for more intensity on the defensive end.
“Our offense comes from solid defense,” Carroll said.
Sacred Heart erupted for a 29-13 third quarter that was spurred by aggressive defense, then poured it on in the fourth quarter to overwhelm Naugatuck. Raheem Solomon was awesome with 31 points, including four 3-pointers. Isaiah Gaiter and Courie Stevenson each had 12 points while Legend Johnson and Mikey West put in eight points apiece.
