In the blink of an eye, we've arrived at Super Sunday.
NEPSAC girls basketball's championship contenders will migrate to Loomis Chaffee to begin the day-long title coronations. We'll have basketball non-stop from 11:30 a.m. through 9 p.m. as the final chapter in this prep season unfolds.
Each of the games we're covering, from Class AAA through B, has intrigue. We'll see five Division 1 commits duel in Class B. Princeton commit Grace O'Sullivan, Seton Hall commit Natalia Hall-Rosa and Stonehill commit Narissa Smith lead Rivers, while Syracuse-bound star Cam Nelson and Mercyhurst commit Emma Sollenne power St. Luke's. The Red Wings and Storm emerged from the most chaotic bracket of the NEPSAC playoffs.
Loomis Chaffee chases a four-peat in Class A, while Sacred Heart hopes to end the dynasty. The two sides met in a 43-33 Loomis win on Jan. 31, showing the Pelicans are favorites but Sacred Heart can compete.
Two first-year head coaches have surpassed all expectations to reach the Class AA title game. Worcester Academy, led by Dan Sullivan, has overcome a 6-8 start and gone 14-2 since. Darrow, under Abby Streeter, has made a remarkable leap from Class D afterthought to Class AA threat.
And then we cap Super Sunday with a primetime Class AAA matchup. This is a new class in girls basketball, but the opponents are longtime foes Nobles and Tilton — also the top two teams in our Top 10 rankings.
What can we expect — and who wins? Here's a look at those four championship games.
PLAYOFF SCHEDULES:Â Class AAAÂ |Â Class AAÂ |Â Class AÂ |Â Class B, C, D
Class AAA
No. 1 Nobles vs. No. 3 Tilton
To open the new era of girls Class AAA, we get a rematch of last year's Class AA final. Even with Nobles entering as two-time reigning champs, I think this could go either way.
The Bulldogs are 29-1 with two head-to-head wins against Tilton. They just scored 74 points in the semifinals fresh off a bye, and when New Hampton tied the game at 59 in the fourth quarter, they dug deep and outscored the Huskies 15-2 the rest of the way. It's just so hard to rattle this team, and in particular, its senior trio of Ashley Dinges, Jasmyn Cooper and Christina Pham.
But Tilton is playing better basketball right now. Saturday's 65-43 semifinal win at Tabor was perhaps the loudest statement made this entire winter (and the most wrong I've been about a single game pick). The Rams' lockdown defense was firing on all cylinders, and its offense moved well without the ball, spread passes around and routinely made critical shots. Colleen Phiri is the centerpiece, but Bela Cucuta looks as confident as ever, and so does Maddie McCaffery, now in the starting lineup.
Backcourt play will be huge in this game. Cucuta and Pham are two of NEPSAC's best respective big-moment scorers; who's ready for this moment? McCaffery has proven herself extremely valuable, as has Brynn Bryant on Nobles as one of NEPSAC's best perimeter defenders.
I'm not going to be the guy to pick against Nobles. The Bulldogs are simply proven in this environment. But Tilton can absolutely win, and I'm sure the Rams will relish one more time being the underdogs.
Prediction: Nobles 65, Tilton 60
Class AA
No. 2 Worcester Academy vs. No. 5 Darrow
The best offense and best defense in Class AA will clash in Sunday's title bout.
Worcester Academy just dropped 80 points — the most from any team in this year's postseason — in its semifinal win against Wilbraham and Monson. Elyse MacDonough remains on fire following her 31-point outburst, Saige Youngberg followed suit with 18 points and Ella Getz added 13 in the victory. They're the most lethal weapons in the Hilltoppers' high-octane offense but far from the only ones who can heat up.
Darrow is also playing its best basketball in a polar opposite fashion. The Ducks buckled down on defense yet again to upset top-seeded Northfield Mount Hermon in a 44-36 brawl. No opponent has cleared 60 points since Western Reserve on Feb. 2.
Last time these teams played, Worcester Academy prevailed in score and style, winning 78-73 on Jan. 25. Darrow should take some more ownership over the tempo and physicality of this game. But I don't believe it'll be enough, as the high-flying Hilltoppers head to the pinnacle.
Prediction: Worcester Academy 61, Darrow 53
Class A
No. 1 Loomis Chaffee vs. No. 2 Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart becomes the fourth different school to face Loomis Chaffee in the championship across the last for years. Can they finally knock the Pelicans off the throne?
Saturday's 54-52 win against Kent showed me a lot. Sacred Heart has guards like Eva Wilkerson and Lucianna Parrotta who are versatile enough to defend up and down the lineup. Wilkerson did a great job on the perimeter, while Parrotta disrupted much of Kent's inside scoring with her length and awareness in rotation. On offense, Aisha Salem Hassan (15 points) led the half-court creator with her shiftiness and vision. It certainly helps to have a deadeye sniper like Emma Mathews, who scored 15 points behind four 3-pointers.
But Sacred Heart is a smaller team. Loomis Chaffee's sheer size will again pose a problem, like it did in the Pelicans' 69-56 semifinal win over Hotchkiss. That was a closer contest than the score indicates, but Hotchkiss ran out of steam late playing against such a consistent opponent. Alicia Mitchell made a big impact inside at center, and she'll have a more significant size advantage against Sacred Heart.
It will take a near-perfect gameplan and execution for Sacred Heart to win this. It's certainly possible — Ayo Hart is a well-respected, creative coach — but I side with a Loomis Chaffee four-peat.
Prediction: Loomis Chaffee 57, Sacred Heart 50
Class B
No. 3 Rivers vs. No. 5 St. Luke's
It was much more of a roller-coaster than I expected, but we end up with my preseason championship matchup prediction becoming reality. Three of the class' premier senior stars will battle for a title.
Rivers' dynamic duo of Grace O'Sullivan and Natalia Hall-Rosa came through once again. Hall-Rosa's heads-up pass at the free-throw line to a cutting O'Sullivan for a layup gave the Red Wings their winning bucket with 2.6 seconds left in the semifinals against Berkshire. Rivers trailed most of that contest, but O'Sullivan and Hall-Rosa proved steady once again in the 44-43 triumph.
St. Luke's, meanwhile, had a similarly chaotic semifinal. The Storm trailed 25-14 in the first half against reigning champion St. George's and 30-24 at half. They then set off on a whopping 33-6 run that completely flipped the contest to a 72-59 victory. Cam Nelson led the way with 23 points, but Emma Sollenne (18 points) and Olivia White (15 points) made significant impacts on the win.
The Red Wings have now put together two strong defensive games in the playoffs, holding Greens Farms to 45 points and Berkshire to 43. It gives them a higher floor, and I generally like their size against St. Luke's guards. One underrated player to watch: freshman Joy Robinson. Robinson spent a lot of time defending Berkshire star Chloe Egan Saturday; I wonder who she'll be guarding between Nelson and Sollenne. Her two-way impact could swing this matchup in Rivers' favor.
Prediction: Rivers 53, St. Luke's 49
