By JOE PALLADINO
WATERBURY – They are the twin titlists of Naugatuck Valley League basketball. Can they repeat? We’ll know more soon.
The Sacred Heart boys and girls both captured the NVL championship in 2018, the fourth straight for the boys, the first in three decades for the girls. Hearts hoops had a combined record of 45-9.
Let’s look first at the boys:
Good luck, NVL.
The Hearts are still on an 86-game NVL win streak, but with a significantly altered personality. The team graduated a Billy Finn Award winner in Isiah Gaiter and a Connie Donahue Award winner in Raheem Solomon, so slick guard play will be replaced by size and muscle.
“We’re a lot bigger this year,” said sophomore center Connor Tierney, who is no longer 6 feet, 11 inches. He has made it. He’s a 7-footer, officially, although I am still tempted to bust out a tape measure if I can find one big enough.
“We have size in the post and on the wing, and we can all run the ball up the floor,” added Tierney, who returns as the team’s leading scorer at 7.9 ppg.
Yeah, that’s where the questions must be asked. Remember, the only two players back from last season who saw any time on the floor are Tierney and sophomore Caleb Sampson, and Sampson did not start.
But back to the size … check this out: Tierney, 7-0; Omar Rowe, 6-6; Nate Tabor, 6-5; Jamaal Waters, 6-6.
Waters is a newcomer, a senior from Cheshire Academy. Tabor, a guard, was with the Hearts as a freshman, but left in midseason. Last year, he was at Our Savior New American School on Long Island, but did not play. He comes back off knee surgery.
Rowe was a state champion with the Hearts in 2017. He left school, attended Lincoln High in Brooklyn for a year, but came back to Sacred Heart this year. He is eligible again and is a senior.
Oh, yes, the talent is there, but can all these parts be put back together?
“We’ve got to get everybody to play together and go in the right direction,” said coach Jon Carroll, “and be the best team we can be in February and March. That’s the goal, and having them understand that every time they walk into a gym, people will take their best shot at you. That’s something they will have to learn quick.”
Tabor watched the Hearts from the bench at the end of last season as he rehabbed his knee. He saw the NVL title run and watched the state title run end one victory shy.
“We’ve got to come back stronger,” he said. “We know what we’ve got to do. It’s business this year.”
The girls bring most of the pieces back, except for guard Treasure Coleman, who opted to play prep basketball at Berkshire School. Fear not, the Hearts remain deep and quick and are bigger as well.
So, how do the girls make it all happen again? Hayley Tucker (6.1 ppg.) said there is no mystery to that.
“We have to work hard, work as a team, run our plays and be fast,” she said.
Ah, fast they are. Even without Coleman, the Hearts fly. They feature a lot, but there is no doubt that their lightning-quick guards, junior Aamya Rivera (13 ppg.), sophomore Mikayla Mobley (8.9) and senior Adalena Francis, will keep NVL defenses in a tizzy.
“We are a fast-paced team, and we can just run the ball up and down the court,” Francis said.
The key word there is run.
But what coach Ron Picard loved most about the Hearts of 2018 was the team-first mentality. It did not come overnight and, he said, it was not lost in the offseason.
“There is chemistry; the whole team has great chemistry,” the coach said. “They play for each other. It shows a lot this year, and it bodes well for the team.”
OK, Hearts, get ready. Everyone is after you.
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