Sacred Heart boys and girls come away with wins

The Sacred Heart Trojans and Lady Trojans double teamed the Westminster Crusaders and Lady Crusaders Friday night, with both Sacred Heart clubs pulling off big district wins.
The Lady Trojans never took their foot off the gas against the Lady Crusaders, controlling Westminster in a 57-35 win.
The Lady Trojans improve to 5-14 with the win and 3-3 in district play. They will host North Central Tuesday for their next game.
The Trojans pulled off a stunning overtime win against the Crusaders, winning a close 65-63 contest.
With the win, the Trojans improve to 7-15 on the season and 3-3 in league play. They will host North Central Tuesday for their next district match up.
The girl’s contest started with Westminster firing on all cylinders offensively, scoring five of the first seven points in the game. Sacred Heart was eventually able to battle their way back, but Westminster still held a 9-7 lead with 2:50 left in the period.
Unfortunately for the Lady Crusaders, as they were not able to keep the Lady Trojans quiet for very long, as Sacred Heart mustered up the final six points to close out the period.
The second period saw less action, but, the Lady Trojans still looked to show their dominance. A six point advantage to start the quarter by Sacred Heart was enough to set the pace for the remainder of the period.
Outside of that the two teams were able to keep up with each other for most of the quarter. Still, Sacred Heart was able to out score Westminster 14-9 to take a 27-18 lead heading into the second half.
Not much changed going into the third quarter. The Lady Trojans still controlled the ball, even being able to double up Westminster in points scored during the period. The Lady Crusaders had chances to take control of the quarter, with four attempts from the free throw line, but were unable to deliver. As the period came to a close, Sacred Heart held a 37-23 lead.
Westminster ran into the same problems they had in the previous quarter. Sacred Heart continued to control the ball and gave little chances for a Lady Crusader comeback. With the clock at 3:12, Westminster looked at a 48-30 deficit.
It was at this point in the game that the Lady Trojans went to their bench to finish out the game. Much to everyone’s surprise, the Sacred Heart backups did not slack off, out scoring the Lady Crusaders 9-4 in the final minutes of the game.
Amanda Bergeron contributed 15 points to the Trojan effort. Lauren Shipp pitched in 14 points of her own.
The boys hit the court next, and the two teams matched each other’s competitiveness in the first period. A total of 13 free throws were attempted in the first quarter, making for a slow paced contest. Westminster acquired a slight 15-12 edge as the period came to an end.
The second quarter looked as if it would go the same as the first, with the score sitting at 23-19 and 4:38 left to go in the half. Sacred Heart’s Jacques Leger took matters into his own hands, punching in 11 points in a row to give the Trojans a 30-23 lead. Westminster fell just short of overcoming the lead at the end of the period, heading into their locker room down 32-28.
The third period was the most competitive yet, as both teams muscled their way to separate leads. Westminster was able to score six to open up the period and take over control of the game. However, Sacred Heart answered back with eight points of their own, re-seizing the lead at 40-34 with 3:05 left in the period. The Crusaders out produced the Trojans 7-1 in the final minutes of the quarter to tie the game at 41-41, as the teams headed into the fourth period.
Westminster came out swinging in the opening minutes, collecting the first three points to obtain the lead. The Crusaders managed to adjust the entire quarter, holding the lead up until the waning moments of the game.
With only 17 seconds remaining, Westminster still held on to a 54-51 lead. Once again, Leger was the saving grace for the Trojan squad, knocking down a three point basket with five seconds left to tie the game and send the teams into overtime.
Sacred Heart flipped the script on Westminster in the final period. Despite the Crusaders taking a two point lead to open up the extra period, the Trojans responded with seven points of their own to regain the advantage. With only two seconds left, and the Trojans leading 65-63, Westminster in bounded the ball, hurling it to the opposing side of the court for a chance to tie the game. But the pass was picked off by the Trojans, shutting down the Crusader’s comeback hopes.
Leger raked in a whopping 30 points for Sacred Heart to aid them in their win.