Sacred Heart Greenwich’s varsity basketball team knew it needed an extra strong second half to defeat a Greens Farms Academy squad that seemed primed to take the Tigers right down-to-the-wire in this key FAA game.

A strong second half is exactly what the Tigers earned and as a result, they registered a tough 61-55 victory against Greens Farms Academy at home on Jan. 27th. Senior guard Eva Wilkerson, who recently reached the 1,000th career points milestone, added to her impressive career total, scoring a game-high 20 points to power Sacred Heart, which improved its record to 5-1 in the FAA and 11-4 overall.

The Tigers played Loomis Chafee School on the road on Jan. 30th and host Taft School today (Jan. 31st) at 3 p.m. Senior guard Ava Curto added 14 points for Sacred Heart in its home triumph versus GFA, which led SHG 27-26 at halftime

“They are a really good team, they came out really scrappy and I thought we started out a little bit flat, but in the second half we really turned it up and we came back focused and locked in and I think the second half score showed that,” said Wilkerson, who scored 10 points in each half.

Freshman point guard Addy Sipkin totaled 12 points, eight of which came in the second half, while teammate Lucianna Parrotta, a forward, had 12 points, with two 3-pointers, to also pace the Tigers.

“I think that we played with lots of intensity and our defense was really good,” Curto said. “We played really hard as a team and had great intensity.”

Sacred Heart has recorded victories against FAA foes Greenwich Country Day School, Greenwich Academy, School of the Holy Child, Masters School and Greens Farms. The Tigers’ lone FAA loss came against Hamden Hall Country Day School on Jan. 7. SHG is positioned to receive one of the top spots in the FAA Basketball Tournament, which they have won the past two seasons.

“I think we’ve bonded really well and our chemistry off the court is also really strong,” Curto said of the squad’s teamwork. “I think we have very good chemistry. Everyone has such a strong role on the team. They all have their own roles and they do their roles very well.”

Guard Sarah Von Dohlen scored 15 points, including two 3-pointers, while Allegra Paquette totaled 14 points and made four 3-point shots for GFA, which is 2-1 in the FAA. The Dragons shot the ball well from the perimeter throughout, which kept them in front the majority of the opening half.

“GFA is a solid team that doesn’t have numbers, but they have a lot of depth,” SHG coach Ayo Hart said. “Everyone that came on the court was knocking down shots and creating turnovers. They are a really good team and they’re scrappy. They got to the line a lot.”

Sacred Heart outscored Greens Farms, 21-14, during the pivotal third quarter in which they turned a 27-26 deficit into a 47-41 lead.

“I was proud of our girls for digging deep,” Hart noted. “Great game for Eva, she did everything we could ask for and more. Addy, I’m so proud of her, she can get to the rim, she’s under control, she never rushed. Lucianna put a lot of pressure with her length, up top on defense in the second half. Ava has always been the ‘X’ factor us.”

A layup by Von Dohlen gave the Dragons a 31-26 advantage early in the third quarter, then a basket from Curto, a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Parrotta and a 3-pont shot from the right side from Sara Pastula gave the Tigers a 34-33 edge with 3:20 remaining in the third quarter. Wilkerson then made steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup, making it 36-33 in favor of the Tigers at the 2:58 mark of the third period.

The host Tigers enjoyed the rebounding advantage, mostly in the second half and were able to create points in transition.

“That was definitely something that coach Hart told us that we need to do – crash the boards and get rebounds so in the first half we were losing with the rebounds, but in the second half we dominated with the rebounds,” Wilkerson noted.

Getting more rebounds enabled SHG to move the ball up more quickly during the final two quarters.

“We call it race – race the other team up the floor and get transition buckets,” said Wilkerson, who reached the 1000th career point plateau during a recent road game against Thayer Academy. “We did that with steals and layups.”

Greens Farms closed to within 47-44 and 48-46 on 3-pointers by Allegra Paquette. However, a Sipkin layup, a jump hook by Parrotta and another layup in the lane by Sipkin put the Tigers on top, 56-46, in the fourth quarter.

London Powell had 11 points and Stella Paquette added eight points for GFA. Sipkin had eight second half points to help spark the Tigers’ comeback. Indeed, the Tigers, have high goals for the remainder of the season.

“I think we’re progressing really well from where we were at the start of the season,” Wilkerson said. “We’re a close-knit group of girls. The sky is the limit for this group of girls