Simsbury shuts down No. 1 Holy Cross to win first state championship

Simsbury celebrates after winning the first state championship in girls basketball after a 55-40 win over Holy Cross on Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

UNCASVILLE, Conn., March 16, 2024 – So many smiles for so many reasons.

The Simsbury High girls basketball team raced out to a big 15-point lead in the first quarter and never relinquished that lead to beat No. 1 seed Holy Cross, 55-40 on Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena for the program’s first state championship.

Head coach Sam Zullo, who as a high school player in New York State had always tried to get the state championship game in Glen Falls, finally brought home the big trophy on a weekend that his father’s team, the Northville High girls, advanced to Sunday’s state title game in Troy, N.Y.

It is a special day for the Zullo family, who lost Linda Zullo (Sam’s mother and Jim’s wife) in January after a years-long battle with cancer.

It was the first state title in basketball in Simsbury since 1952 when Amanda Gallagher’s grandfather, Jim, scored 15 points to help the Trojans boys basketball team beat East Hampton, 56-38, at the Teacher’s College in New Britain – what eventually became Central Connecticut State.

Amanda Gallagher had a game-high 21 points with a game-high 10 rebounds and five steals while the game’s most outstanding player Olivia Jarvis had 19 points and eight rebounds in her final competitive basketball game.

“It’s amazing,” said Jarvis, who won a state championship as the starting goalie with the Simsbury girls soccer team in November. “This court. This atmosphere. I’ve been in big games but Mohegan (Sun Arena) is unbelievable. This is where Taylor Swift performed. The WNBA. We played on a professional court and won.”

Amanda Gallagher shoots over two Holy Cross defenders in Saturday’s win in the Class L championship game at Mohegan Sun Arena.

For much of the tournament, Simsbury has been riding the collective strength of Amanda Gallagher and Jarvis. But on this evening, Simsbury had to rely on other players to handle the ball more, rebound more and score.

Freshman Addison Girard had nine points, the most points she has scored in the state tournament along with a team-high eight steals. Simsbury had 17 steals in the game and forced Holy Cross to commit 24 turnovers.

The Trojans (23-4) scored 30 points off Crusader turnovers.

“We had to do things we haven’t done this season,” Sam Zullo said. “I was proud of all those kids stepping into their roles and playing above their roles and taking home the title.”

Charlotte Reitz had a team-high four assists as the Trojans had 12 assists on 16 baskets. Simsbury had an early 5-2 lead but the Trojans went on a 10-0 run to extend their lead to 13 points, 15-2. Jarvis had eight points in the surge but four baskets were in the lane off nice assists from her teammates.

“Our defense was gritty. We came out firing and we came out strong,” Amanda Gallagher said.

Holy Cross (24-3) missed seven of their first eight shots from the field.

Simsbury’s Olivia Jarvis tries to get to the basket in Saturday’s win over Holy Cross in the Class L championship game.

Simsbury’s lead swelled to 19 after Jarvis took a nice feed in the lane from Alexa Gallagher to give the Trojans a 19-4 lead with 5:59 remaining in the second quarter.

Holy Cross cut the lead to seven points at halftime, 24-17 with nine points from Shania Howard, who showed no fear driving to the basket.

Holy Cross’ Isabella Lombardo hit a three-point shot from the corner, Corinne Lomax scored in the lane and Lombardo scored along the baseline with 1:42 left in the third quarter as the Crusaders cut the lead to four, 31-27.

That is as close as Holy Cross would get.

Jarvis scored in the lane off a nice feed from Girard to boost the lead back to six. Simsbury led by seven after three quarters, 37-30.

Lomax went to the basket and scored with 3:27 remaining to cut the Trojan lead to seven, 45-38 but that was the final field goal of the evening for the Crusaders.

“I grew up in New York playing basketball trying to get to the Glens Falls Civic Center for the state championship game,” Sam Zullo said. “I never made that as a player and I have been dreaming of this my whole life. Selfishly, I am happy for me but I am really happy to share this with this group of kids, especially those two seniors (Amanda Gallagher, Jarvis).”

Simsbury 55, Holy Cross 40
At Uncasville, Conn.
Simsbury (55) Olivia Jarvis 6-7-19, Charlotte Diviney 0-0-0, Addison Girard 3-3-9, Amanda Gallagher 5-10-21, Alexa Gallagher 1-1-4, Charlotte Reitz 1-0-2, Josianne Kodak 0-0-0, Melinda Uanino 0-0-0, Reesa Looney 0-0-0, Emma Horniatko 0-0-0, Alyssa Candelario 0-0-0. Totals 16-21-55
Holy Cross (40) Shania Howard 4-9-17, Isabella Oliver 0-2-2, Isabella Lombardo 3-0-7, Rachel Healey 1-1-3, Corinne Lomax 3-0-6, Quinn Barry 1-0-2, Julia Benvegnu 0-0-0, Madelyn Neibel 1-0-3, Mia Mattaboni 0-0-0, Hailey Christiano 0-0-0, Bryanna Santiago 0-0-0, Reese McGarrity 0-0-0, Madison Gorman 0-0-0. Totals 13-12-40
Simsbury (23-4)           16    8  13  18  — 55
Holy Cross (24-3)          4  13  13  10 – 40
Three-point goals: Amanda Gallagher (S), Alexa Gallagher (S); Lombardo (HC), Neibel (HC)