By Tucker Paquette
@tpaquette17
After an extended run of eye-popping success, Holy Cross girls basketball has bumped up to Class LL in the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC).
The Crusaders, who previously were part of Class L, have a cumulative record of 100-8 since the start of the 2019-20 campaign, including back-to-back undefeated seasons in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 year and 2021-22. The most recent of those victories came on Thursday afternoon at the Hoophall Classic, where Holy Cross outlasted Springfield Central 51-47 in an overtime thriller.
For Holy Cross head coach Frank Lombardo, the recognition that comes with being elevated in class is something that sticks out to him, especially considering the size of the Crusaders’ program.
“We’re very proud that we get the respect that we do,” Lombardo said. “We’re a very small school. But because we do so well and we are very competitive, we get bumped up.”
Holy Cross made the move exclusively, as they were the only team to move into Class LL ahead of this season, a division which contains 34 teams. The Crusaders’ promotion comes on the heels of a season in which they lost in the Class L final against Simsbury. Schools such as New London and St. Joseph have received the same promotion in recent years.
In Lombardo’s eyes, even though the Crusaders just wrapped up their 6th game of LL play, they have been playing against this level of competition for some time now.
“This is our first year at LL but we have a lot of league games usually in the regular season and we usually try to schedule LL schools,” Lombardo said.
In Thursday’s matchup against Springfield Central, Lombardo saw his team encounter some of the challenges that are typically presented when facing quality opponents, including versatility and impressive methods of shot-making.
“Tonight was a difficult game for us because Springfield Central has so many girls that do a lot of things well,” Lombardo said. “We couldn’t key on one person to try and stop because all five people on the court had strengths. They could put the ball in the basket, they could rebound and they could penetrate to the basket.”
However, Lombardo was pleased with how the Crusaders responded to Springfield’s Central’s uptempo play. Specifically, their ball movement in pressure situations was a key to victory for a team that earns their fair share of wins without facing much resistance.
“The best thing that I saw tonight was we were sharing the ball in tight situations,” Lombardo said. “This was the first game pretty much the whole year that it was a close game for 32 minutes. We responded well, we made a lot of good decisions in tight instances. Overall, we had a great game as a team.”
Ultimately, Lombardo wants his team to face stiff competition, a goal that is more attainable now that Holy Cross has moved up a notch.
The age-old philosophy of wanting to prove yourself against the top competition is one that excites Lombardo, and the Crusaders are set to face a slate featuring some top-flight opponents.
“Usually the best teams are in the LL division,” Lombardo said. “And we always want to play the best. Because when you play the best, you become the best that you can be. And that’s our goal for our team this year.”
(Photo by Kaitlyn Kupiec/The Student)