As the high school basketball postseason tips off, there’s only three undefeated teams across the entire state. On the girls side, there’s only one: Holy Cross.
The Crusaders are 20-0 in Class M heading into their first tournament game on Friday. Though, being undefeated is nothing new for them. Holy Cross was undefeated last season, too, only because of Covid, they didn’t have a chance to play for any titles.
The year before, the Crusaders played up to the state semifinal, but Covid got in the way of that, too. So for the seniors who have seen two seasons interrupted, this has been a long time coming.
I wish I could stay another year because of everything that we've been through and to get a normal year, but it doesn't matter,” said Holy Cross senior Maeve Perrone. “We stuck it out and here we are.”
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“Going into this year we were really just excited, we were like this is our year,” said senior Cayla Howard. “We've just used the past two years as motivation.”
One of the other undefeated teams is just 4.5 miles away from Holy Cross: the Naugatuck boys. The Greyhounds are 20-0 in Division I and set to play for the Naugatuck Valley League title on Wednesday. They last won their league title in 2019.
As for their secret to success, according to the tea, it’s pretty simple.
“We're unselfish and we play defense,” said senior Avery Hinnant.
“It's the chemistry and how we click with each other,” said senior Aiden Robertson. “Everybody knows how each other plays and... It's not about always one person, it's about everybody. If you were to stop one person, you've got to worry about another.”
The third undefeated team is the Bristol Central boys, which has 7’2” UConn commit, Donovan Clingan. The Rams will play for the Central Connecticut Conference title on Thursday.
