For the first time in program history, Sacred Heart Greenwich’s basketball team has made it to its final destination.

The second-seeded Tigers advanced to the championship game of the NEPSAC Class A Basketball Tournament and did so by defeating the team that prevented them from reaching the finals one season ago – rival Kent School.

Receiving its trademark balanced scoring effort, Sacred Heart Greenwich earned a dramatic 54-52 win over third-seeded Kent School in the NEPSAC Class A semifinals before a large gathering at Sacred Heart. The Tigers will play No. 1-seeded Loomis Chaffee School in today’s (March 9) NEPSAC Class A Tournament final at Loomis Chaffee. The championship matchup is scheduled to start at 4:15 p.m.

In the Tigers’ semifinal-round triumph versus Kent, senior point guard Aisha Hassan scored 15 points, grabbed four rebounds, had three assists and two steals. Tigers’ teammate Emma Mathews, a sophomore guard/forward, also scored 15 points and grabbed four rebounds. Junior guard/captain Eva Wilkerson totaled 11 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals in the winning effort.

“It feels so good, this has never been done before,” Wilkerson said of reaching the title game. “This team is so incredible, we’ve become so close throughout this entire season.”

Sacred Heart led Kent, 14-12, after the first quarter of action and held a 24-22 halftime advantage. The score was 43-40 in favor of the Tiger following three quarters of play and the game went right down-to-the-wire in the fourth quarter.

“One, we’re making history and two, to beat Kent when we lost to them last season in the NEPSAC semifinals is such an amazing feeling,” SHG senior forward/center/captain Jadamarie Henry said. “It shows how much our team has progressed and grown. We deserve to be here and we fought for it today.”

With less than 30 seconds left to play in the fourth quarter, Sacred Heart junior guard Ava Curto gave the Tigers the lead for good at 54-52. Curto gathered a rebound off a missed 3-point shot in the lane, went up strong toward the basket and banked in a shot from close in, putting the hosts on top by two points.

Curto finished with six points, four rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot, while Henry had three points and seven rebounds for the championship game-bound Tigers.

“It was a great feeling, I saw the missed basket, got the rebound and went up strong and got the basket,” Curto said of her go-ahead basket. “It feels super great to make the finals, our team definitely deserves it, we worked super hard.”

The Lions had the final possession and a chance to tie the score or take the lead with a basket. Yet SHG came up with two big defensive stops, one of which occurred with less than two seconds remaining.

“It was definitely a little nerve-wracking, it was tied in the fourth quarter and we knew we had to lock in on our specific assignments,” Wilkerson noted. “If we did those assignments then we knew we were good.”

The Tigers earned a berth in the NEPSAC semifinals by topping seventh-seeded Milford Academy, 63-46, at Kingswood-Oxford School in the quarterfinal-round on March 5. This marks the second straight season that the Tigers have won 20-plus games.

“Proud sounds like such a trivial word to express the feelings I have right now, because it’s been a long season,” SHG coach Ayo Hart said. “With the amount of time and energy they’ve spent to go this far and go this long – I’m proud of them and in awe of them.”

Kent received 15 points from senior Morgan Johnson, 14 points from junior Agar Malek and a 10-point effort from senior Celeste Harper. The Lions led 10-5 after a Malek basket, but Mathews cut the Tigers’ deficit to 10-8 with a 3-poiner from the left corner. Wilkerson then scored on a fastbreak layup off a steal, evening the score at 10-10.

Curto’s baseline jumper to end the opening quarter gave the Tigers a 14-12 edge. In the second quarter, after the Lions went ahead 21-19, Mathews faked a 3-point shot, took a dribble and made a jumper while being fouled. She sank the ensuing foul shot, giving the hosts a 22-21 lead.

Senior Nayia Chrysanthopolos scored in the low post, putting Kent on top, 28-27, early in the third quarter. Mathews gave the Tigers the lead right back at 30-28, burying a 3-pointer from the left corner at the 5:10 mark of the third quarter.

“This was a really big game, this is the first time in Sacred Heart history that we’re going to the championship, so to play my best basketball in the biggest game of the year to this point feels good,” Mathews said. “I just want help my teammates out and continue to make history with this team.”

Sophomore Nora Lennon made a shot from beyond the arc, knotting the score at 35-35 for Kent, but Mathews converted another 3-pointer, this time from the left wing, making it 38-35 in favor of the home team.

Another 3-point shot from Mathews gave SHG a 43-40 advantage through three quarters of action.

“They’re a really good team, they’re pretty disciplined, but I think all year we’ve been saying our depth, our bench is what makes us different, it’s what helps us and I think that showed today,” Mathews noted. “Everyone made an impact.”

Said Hart of her squad’s depth: “It’s been the key to our success all season. What makes us more dangerous this year is you can’t shut down one person. We have multiple people who on any given day can have double digits and play really good defense.”

Baskets by Wilkerson and Hassan gave Sacred Heart a 47-42 lead on Kent early in the final quarter, but the Lions rallied to go up, 52-49, with less than three minutes remaining in the game.

Sacred Heart sophomore guard/forward Lucianna Parrotta made a huge 3-pointer from the left side, tying the score at 52-52 with 2:20 to go in the fourth quarter. Curto then made her winning shot with less than 30 seconds to play.

“It’s amazing, we were hoping to get to the finals because we haven’t done that, so it feels like we are accomplishing something big,” said Hassan, who also made reference to the Tigers’ depth.

“We always talk about having a deep bench and I feel like everyone on the team has a role and we all know it,” Hassan said. “Everyone knows that we have each other’s back.”

Parrotta had four points, five rebounds and one key blocked shot, which occurred with under two minutes left in the final quarter. With already two championships in its possession this season – the FAA regular season championship and the FAA Tournament championship – SHG is vying for the title it has never won before – the NEPSAC championship.

“Winning the FAA championship was definitely an ego booster,” Curto said. “It gave us confidence and we are going to carry that confidence to the championship.”

Indeed, the Tigers displayed high intensity, poise and confidence throughout the NEPSAC semifinal, as they have shown throughout the season.

“We settled down, which was the most important part,’ Henry said. “There was a lot of noise and talking going on, but staying composed and staying focused the whole game was a really big factor for us.”

Said Wilkerson: “We did start off the game a little slow, which is not normally how we start, but I think toward the second half is when we picked up the intensity. The last time we played them we let them come back and this time we tried to keep the momentum the entire game.”