Joe Palladino
That was fun. Can we do it again? Yes, we can, today in fact, at the Big Apple Invitational at Baruch College in New York.
The opponent this time is Long Island Lutheran, currently ranked No. 10 in the MSG Varsity Tri-State basketball poll, and No. 1 for the Long Island power rankings. In other words, it gets even tougher.
The Sacred Heart boys, the No. 1 team in Connecticut and, at present, No. 17 nationally, lost their 40-game win streak and their first game in almost two years on Saturday night at the Hoophall Classic at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. It was a classic at the Classic, as Foothills Christian High School from the San Diego suburb of El Cajon knocked off the Hearts, 82-80.
Here is what happened to the Hearts: The Knights shot 77 percent from the 3-point arc in the first half, and 68 percent for the game.
Even Michael and Kobe can’t do that.
Photo gallery from Hoophall Classic
Foothills made 15 3-point field goals and 15 two pointers. The man who is headed to UCLA, 6-10 T.J. Leaf, had 11 of those twos, most of them dunks, and a couple of treys as well.
And at the end of the game a player off the bench, 5-7 Jaren Nafarrete, made two clutch free throws with four seconds left to put the final dagger into the Hearts.
It was a strange game. At the start, the Knights did to the Hearts what the Hearts do to NVL opponents. They led Sacred Heart 24-8 after five minutes.
And yet, a Mustapha Heron 3-point bomb with 10 seconds left tied the game at 80-80, and it was only a poor defensive decision by Heron with those four ticks left — he fouled Nafarrete 70 feet from the basket — that ended it.
As Foothills coach Brad Leaf said, the only reason Sacred Heart lost was because the clock ran out. As Heron said, the Hearts lost because too many little things added up to one big thing.
“The biggest lesson here is that the little things count,” Heron said. “Every loose ball, and I think we got to a lot of loose balls, definitely we were on the floor, and every rebound counts, every possession counts, every little thing adds up to one big thing, which is a win or a loss.”
Also, the Hearts, an excellent free-throw shooting team, were an uncharacteristic 4-for-8 from the line in the fourth quarter, and three of those misses were by Heron.
In other words, after falling behind by 16 points in a few heartbeats, the Hearts won the game’s last 27 minutes, 72-58.
Ah, those little things.
Sacred Heart boys schedule
Date
Opponent
Res./time
Mon., 12/21
at Wilby
W, 112-81
Wed., 12/23
at Watertown
W, 88-58
Tue., 12/29
Ansonia
W, 86-38
Tue., 1/5
at Wolcott
W, 94-58
Wed., 1/6
Derby
W, 87-42
Fri., 1/8
Kennedy
W, 96-49
Mon., 1/11
at Woodland
W, 99-49
Fri., 1/15
Crosby
W, 96-61
Sat., 1/16
Foothills Christian
L, 82-80
Mon., 1/18
at Long Island Lutheran (NY)
5:45 p.m.
Fri., 1/22
Naugatuck
7 p.m.
Mon., 1/25
at Seymour
7 p.m.
Thu., 1/28
at Oxford
7 p.m.
Fri., 1/29
Holy Cross
7 p.m.
Tue., 2/2
at Kennedy
7 p.m.
Fri., 2/5
Torrington
7 p.m.
Tue., 2/9
at Crosby
7 p.m.
Fri., 2/12
Wilby
7 p.m.
Tue., 2/16
at Holy Cross
7 p.m.
Tue., 2/23
St. Paul Catholic
7 p.m.
But that is old news now. Today they make new news against the Crusaders. The game is at Baruch College at 5:45 p.m. Long Island Lutheran has its own superstar in Devonte Green, a 6-2 explosion of a guard who only last week committed to Indiana.
LuHi (10-2) is deep. Charles Manning, a 6-3 senior and sixth man, was the tournament MVP at his previous high school last season, Bridgehampton, which he led to the New York State Class D championship.
In other words, LuHi is another huge challenge. Coach John Buck likes the challenge that his guys face as well.
“We definitely know about Sacred Heart,” Buck said. “Devonte played (AAU basketball) with Mustapha this summer. We will do the scouting and do the work to be prepared, and as long as we stay within the game plan this is another chance to prove ourselves, and try to become the best team in the state.”
Buck describes the Crusaders as a “long, well-rounded team. We have new pieces and we’re still getting used to each other a little bit. If we can come together we have a chance to be real good.”
The Hearts are already real good but, to be blunt, in need of these two games. It was apparent at the Hoophall: A lack of competitive regular season games had dulled the Hearts.
Well, yes. It took almost a full quarter Saturday night before Sacred Heart found its competitive edge in Springfield. The Hearts needed a fight, got one, and liked it.
“We play these kind of games so we can learn something about ourselves and get better,” coach Jon Carroll said. “That’s the goal, and we achieved it.”
The next lesson is today in the big city.
Send comments to jpalladino@rep-am.com, and follow on Twitter at @RAOffTheRecord.