St. Paul girls take down Sacred Heart in battle of unbeatens

Janeesa Gonzalez (11) had 24 big points and 10 rebounds for St. Paul in its 45-40 win
over Sacred Heart in a battle of unbeatens Thursday. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69, 2017 file)

In a game between two 3-0 teams that featured a whole bunch of foul shots, St. Paul girls basketball outlasted Sacred Heart 45-40 on Thursday night on Maltby Street in Bristol.
The Falcons had 22 made free throws, and game-high scorer Janessa Gonzalez connected for 11 of them on her way to 24 points. Gonzalez also had 10 rebounds. Jade Udoh had a big impact on the boards and defense with eight rebounds and four blocks. 
Aamya Rivera and Mikayla Mobley had 12 points and two 3-pointers each for the Hearts.
St. Paul jumped up to a 14-4 lead after one quarter, but Sacred Heart closed to within 22-21 by halftime. The Hearts led 31-30 after three quarters, but the Falcons outscored the visitors 15-9 in the fourth to win.

Marquan Watson was again a monster for Waterbury Career Academy, posting 25 points, 19 rebounds and three blocks in his team’s 79-63 win over Torrington. 

Speaking of double-doubles, Aiyana Ward had 20 points and 24 rebounds in a 65-33 Holy Cross blowout of Derby.

There were double-doubles a plenty in NVL boys basketball. Markeese Days went for 21 points and 11 rebounds while Kerwin Prince had 12 and 11 for Crosby in a 95-40 victory over Ansonia.
Jeremy Acosta tallied 15 points and 13 rebounds while Jaquane Jones chipped in 13 and 10 in Kennedy’s 75-49 win over Watertown.
Holy Cross rolled 106-49 over Derby, and there were double-doubles from DeAndre Wallace, Jack Greene and Mickey West. Wallace had 14 points and 10 rebounds while Greene put together 12 of each. West led the Crusaders with 26 points and had 10 assists.

Here are some other big point totals from Thursday:

Akili Evans had seven 3-pointers and 23 total points for Holy Cross in the Derby win.

Raheem Solomon went off for 31 points in an 80-53 Sacred Heart victory over St. Paul. Isiah Gaiter and Connor Tierney both connected for 20 points. Tyler Arbuckle led the Falcons with 19 points.

Wilby’s Christian Harris had 27 points Thursday, including two of the
spectacular variety on this layup. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69)

Christian Harris poured in 27 points for Wilby before fouling out late in the 78-73 loss to Naugatuck (NOTE: Greyhound junior Jean Lukau had 41 points, including 31 in the first half). Here are my photos from early on at Wilby on Thursday night.

Sarah Wisniewski had 25 points and five steals for Kaynor Tech in its 56-44 loss to Woodland.