Sacred Heart advances in FAA basketball playoffs

Midway through the first half of Tuesday's FAA girls basketball quarterfinal, No. 8 St. Luke's had dreams of an upset dancing in its head

That dream quickly turned into a nightmare as No. 1 Convent of the Sacred Heart turned up the defense and started hitting from the outside on its way to rolling over the Storm 56-40.

St. Luke's led 16-15 in the first half before the Tigers went on a 35-4 run that saw their lead grow to 50-20 part way into the second half. Thanks to the win, Sacred Heart (16-7) will host Rye Country Day on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in the semifinals.

Down by one, the Tigers (16-7) went on a 14-0 run behind three, 3-pointers in a row from Kayla Souza and another by Allison Toner.

Souza and Toner both finished with 12 points while Colleen O'Neill and Emily O'Sullivan led the Tigers with 13 apiece.

O'Neill felt it was important for her team to come out and make statement in the opening game of the FAA tournament.

"It was extremely important. We knew it would be a tough game because they always come out with a lot of energy so it was important for us to match that especially going into the next two games," O'Neill said. "Our confidence is continually building, when we keep playing this well the momentum just keeps growing and I think it really helps us play better as a team."

The Tigers hit nine 3s, seven in the first half.

With Toner, Souza and O'Neill knocking down shots from the outside, O'Sullivan was dominant down low, pulling down rebounds on both ends of the floor and scoring multiple points on second chance shots.

"We want everybody to rebound," Heart coach Sean Green said. "When you are smaller and athletic we get in trouble with trying to out jump and not getting a hand on them to box them out. It is good that we do have a presence down low. That has always been an edge for us."

Anisa Fortt led the Storm (5-18) with 10 points as St. Luke's battled back in the second half despite the huge deficit, something that impressed Green.

"We came out flat and (St. Luke's) is one of those feisty teams that never stops playing which is a great quality for a team to have," he said. "They are very dangerous and we came in thinking `oh we beat them by 30 in their house' and we came out flat but it was good that we started to hit some shots and good we are here on our home court."

The win over St. Luke's was a good start but the ultimate goal for the Tigers is to hang a FAA championship banner in their gym, something they have not done since 1989.

"This league is pretty competitive. There are six teams that on any given night could win," Green said. "I don't think any regular season league champ has ever lost in the tournament and we don't plan on being the first."

scott.ericson@scni.com; 203-625-4458; http://twitter.com/greenwichsports/

Convent of the Sacred Heart 56, St. Luke's 40

SACRED HEART 36 20--56

ST. LUKE'S 20 20--40

SACRED HEART (16-7)

Colleen O'Neill 5 1-4 13; Allison Toner 4 2-3 12; Emily O'Sullivan 6 1-2 13; Kayla Souza 4 0-0 12; Bridget Scaturro 0 0-0 0; Shelby Holland 0 0-0 0; Claire O'Neill 2 1-1 5; Maggie Ellison 0 0-0 0; Amanda Crowell 0 0-0 0; Grace Jorgensen 0 0-0 0; Maya Bond 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 5-12 56

ST. LUKE'S (5-18)

Anisa Fortt 5 0-0 10; Taylor Callaghan 1 1-2 3; Josie Williams 2 0-0 5; Ayotunde Johnson 0 2-8 2; Kathleen Kelly 2 2-2 7; Kai Burton 0 1-2 1; Mary Pivirotto 1 0-0 2; Meagan Maguire 1 0-0 2; Melanie Bow 3 0-0 8. Totals15 6-14 40.

3-point field goals: CSH -- Colleen O'Neill 2, Allison Toner 2, Kayla Souza 4, Claire O'Neill; STL -- Williams, Kelly, Bow 2.

Fouled out: None

high school SCHEDULE

Wednesday Feb. 22

GA hockey vs Kingswood-Oxford 3 p.m.

Brunswick basketball Open date playoffs?

GHS boys basketball @ Danbury, 7 p.m.

GHS Boys hockey @ Staples-Weston-Shelton

4 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 23

Rye Country Day at Convent of Sacred Heart, 4:30 p.m.; FAA girls basketball Tournament Semi-Finals

Brunswick fencing vs Greenwich 4 p.m.

GHS fencing vs Brunswick 5 p.m.

Friday Feb. 24

GA hockey @Worcester 7 p.m.

GA squash @ New Englands

Brunswick basketball open date playoffs?

Saturday, Feb. 25

FAA girls basketball Tournament Finals

GA hockey @ Southfield 12 p.m.

GA squash @ New Englands

GA swimming @ CVISSA Championships

Brunswick basketball open date playoffs?

Sunday, Feb. 26

GA squash @ New Englands

Tuesday, Feb, 28

GHS fencing vs North Haven 5 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 29

NEPSAC girls hockey tournament

Saturday, March 3

NEPSAC girls hockey tournament

GHS fencing @ State individual championships

GHS gymnastics @ State Open

Sunday, March 4

NEPSAC girls hockey tournament

Sunday, March 10

GHS fencing @ State team championships