There’s a reason they say defending a title is harder than winning one. Sacred Heart Greenwich’s girls basketball team just made it look easy.
Trailing by 10 after the first quarter, the Tigers flipped the switch and never looked back, rolling past St. Luke’s 55-34 to capture their second consecutive FAA Tournament championship in front of a packed house at Sacred Heart.
Junior guard Ava Curto was unstoppable off the bench, leading SHG with 19 points. Senior forward/center Jadamarie Henry added 12, and junior guard Eva Wilkerson chipped in 11 as the Tigers put together a dominant second half, outscoring St. Luke’s 35-11.
“It feels amazing being backto-back champs,” Henry said. “No matter who we lose or add, we’re still Sacred Heart basketball. It’s a testament to our coaches and how coachable everyone is.”
SHG entered the final having already dismantled St. Luke’s twice this season. But this wasn’t the same easy runaway. The Storm came out swinging, torching the Tigers early with a 13-0 run to go up 15-5 after one quarter.
“We didn’t have the ideal start, but we knew in the second half we had to come back with more fire,” Wilkerson said. “They outworked us early, so we had to outwork them when it mattered.”
They did just that. Down 23- 20 at halftime, SHG unleashed a 9-0 run to take the lead for good. Henry started it with a putback, Wilkerson buried a jumper, senior point guard Aisha Hassan nailed a mid-range shot, then drilled a 3-pointer to put the Tigers up 29- 23. The floodgates opened from there.
“No matter what the score is going into halftime, we’re going to come out and make a Sacred Heart statement,” head coach Ayo Hart said. “That’s exactly what we did.”
St. Luke’s cut it to 29-26 early in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as they’d get. SHG responded with a 10-0 run—Henry hit three free throws, Curto finished a fastbreak layup off a steal, and Henry drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Just like that, it was 39-26, and the championship celebration was inevitable.
By the time Curto rattled off back-to-back buckets late in the fourth, pushing the lead to 52-34, the only thing left was to hand over the trophy.
“Ava is an incredible player,” Henry said. “She was locked in from the start and made huge shots all game.”
Curto scored nine points in the first half and 10 in the second, delivering clutch buckets whenever SHG needed a jolt.
“It feels amazing,” Curto said. “We work so hard, and it really paid off.”
Henry dominated inside with 11 rebounds. Wilkerson stuffed the stat sheet with four assists, three rebounds, and three steals. Hassan added eight points, eight boards, and seven assists. The Tigers’ defense, a mix of man-to-man and trapping zone, clamped down in the second half, holding St. Luke’s to 11 total points.
“We knew we had to pressure them and stay calm at the same time,” Hassan said. “Defensively and offensively, we were locked in.”
With the FAA title secured and an undefeated league record (11-0), SHG now turns its attention to the NEPSAC Class A Tournament. The Tigers, riding an eight-game winning streak, are primed for another deep run when tournament seedings are announced tomorrow.
“We’ll enjoy this win for a few days,” Hassan said. “Then, it’s time for the next challenge.”
“We have to keep this momentum going,” Wilkerson added. “This is just the beginning.”
Aisha Hassan of the Tigers dribbles the ball past half court while being guarded by Camdyn Nelson of St. Luke’s.
