By KEVIN ROBERTS
WATERBURY — Holy Cross High sophomore Cayla Howard had only one thing on her mind when she drove to the basket late in overtime of Thursday evening’s girls basketball game against Sacred Heart at Alumni Hall.
The Crusaders were up by four points and time was ticking down, but Howard saw an opportunity to put away the pesky Hearts for good.
“I was just focusing on the basket,” Howard said.
Howard scored, was fouled and hit a free throw to complete the three-point play. It wound up producing the final score in a 65-58 win over the Hearts.
The Crusaders secured the NVL Brass Division title at 8-0 with the win and improved to 16-2 overall. The Hearts fell to 14-5 overall. Both of Sacred Heart’s division losses have come against Holy Cross. The Hearts are 6-2.
Howard led all scorers with 32 points. Mya Zaccagnini had 18 points and Alyssa Hebb 11 for the Crusaders. Amaya Rivera and Mikayla Mobley each had 16 points for the Hearts. Rivera fouled out with 1:42 left in regulation.
“I’m proud of these kids,” Sacred Heart coach Ron Picard said. “I’m proud of the way they played.”
When Rivera fouled out, the Hearts trailed by two points, 55-53. Mobley drove all the way for a layup with 1:04 remaining to tie the game, 55-55. From there, the game went to overtime.
Sacred Heart played a strong first half and led, 30-23, at the break. Holy Cross trailed by seven points, 34-27, after a pair of Mobley free throws with 5:08 remaining in the third quarter, but rallied.
The Crusaders outscored the Hearts, 17-6, to take a 44-40 lead into the fourth quarter.
“That third period killed us,” Picard said. “We started throwing up 3-pointers instead of playing the game we were supposed to play.”
For Holy Cross, it was about playing more as a team after halftime.
“Mya had a bad game. Hebb had a rough game, so we had to pick each other up,” Howard said.
The Crusaders did that and survived a stern test from a tough Hearts team.