Sacred Heart concluded the first half of their Northeast Conference (NEC) schedule last Friday. After an 82-70 win over St. Francis, the Pioneers sit at 5-4 at the halfway mark, good enough to sit in fifth place in the conference. Sacred Heart is one of two teams in the conference to have completed nine conference games so far, with Central Connecticut State being the other.
The successful first half of conference play has been a pleasant surprise to Sacred Heart fans as well as an eye-opener to other teams within the NEC. There are many things that people have learned about Anthony Latina’s new-look squad this year, and are certainly worth paying attention to as Sacred Heart prepares to enter the home stretch of their season.
Sacred Heart Goes as Far as Aaron Clarke & Tyler Thomas Will Take Them
The questions about who the go-to guy for Sacred Heart had been answered a long time ago. Tyler Thomas is without a doubt their top option offensively to go get a bucket. After missing the season opener against Rutgers, Thomas has registered 20 points or more five times, including a career-high 36 points against Merrimack on Jan. 7. Anthony Latina has deemed Thomas as a “shot-maker deluxe” and has not been afraid to call his number time after time. Thomas currently leads the league in scoring, pouring in 20.1 points a night.
That being said, one thing that was missing from Sacred Heart was Aaron Clarke and the way Pioneer fans were used to him playing. Clarke missed a pair of games recovering from a lingering knee issue and played scarce minutes in their game one loss to St. Francis. But to be blunt, Sacred Heart does not win the second game without Clarke’s 23 points. The Red Flash cut an 18-point lead down to 6 with eight minutes to play and Sacred Heart looked to be going on another one of their scoring droughts. Clarke took command of the offense and scored 15 points in the second half to carry Sacred Heart to the win.
As Clarke continues to recover (and he is still recovering), he is getting back to full strength, and people know Clarke’s potential when he is healthy.
The Latest on Aaron Clarke
Clarke’s performance on Friday night made fans think he was close to being back to 100%. It certainly looked that way.
“I just woke up and felt much better. Today it was more of a thumbs up or a thumbs down thing with coach,” said Clarke after the win on Friday.
Clarke added that he had only practiced twice over the previous week in order to get as much treatment as possible. With eight days between games, I would assume Sacred Heart will continue to preserve Clarke if it can result in more performances like we saw last week.
BUYING STOCK
Freshmen Quest Harris, Nico Galette, and Bryce Johnson have all made significant strides over the course of the last few weeks. Harris especially has begun to find consistent minutes in the Pioneer rotation that is flooded with good guards. In the St. Francis series, we saw Latina throw out rotations that contained three or four guards with a forward such as Johnson or Galette. Harris play style of fast paced, shifty play has certainly resonated with the Sacred Heart offense.
Johnson and Galette have been beasts on the board. Outside of Cantavio Dutreil, who leads the conference in rebounds per game, the freshmen duo have been active on the offensive and defensive glass. One thing that has not been missing from Sacred Heart’s teams from year to year have been how good they are rebounding the ball. Latina typically sends out his forwards in hockey lines, but the production is often the same regardless of who is out there.
Mike Sixsmith’s Incredible Efficiency
Mike Sixsmith hasn’t been the flashiest freshman for Sacred Heart, but he’s certainly been the most productive first-year for Anthony Latina. Sixsmith comes off a series with St. Francis where he averaged 8 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 4 assists per game. The most important stat though? Sixsmith did not commit a turnover in 55 minutes in the series. In fact, he is first in the conference in assist to turnover ratio, dishing four assists for every one turnover committed.
Sixsmith has put Latina in tough situations where he has become too valuable to take out, especially when Clarke is not 100% yet, and Thomas goes on a cold shooting streak.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Here’s how Sacred Heart closes out the rest of their conference schedule:
Jan. 30 & 31: @ Mount St. Mary’s
Feb. 4: @ Central Connecticut
Feb. 11 & 12: vs. Bryant
Feb. 20 & 21: @ St. Francis Brooklyn
Feb. 25 & 26: vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
BOLD DENOTES TEAMS ABOVE SACRED HEART IN NEC STANDINGS
This is the point in the season where people will begin to believe that Sacred Heart’s inexperience will show and they will fall out of the tournament picture. Keep in mind, only four teams make the Northeast Conference tournament this season. Anthony Latina does not think that is the case.
“Every game is so different. There’s nobody in the league where if you play poorly, you’re going to win,” said Latina. “I think the focus has got to be on Mount St. Mary’s. I’ve learned when you get caught up in the rabbit hole of looking at the schedule, that doesn’t’ help you. It takes your focus away.”
