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Sacred Heart Academy's Maddy Burke after her team's win over Sheehan on Feb. 10, 2026. (Ron Buck/For Hearst Connecticut Media)
WALLINGFORD - A week ago, the Sacred Heart Academy girls basketball team lost its first game to a Connecticut squad in over a year.
And a brief respite, the Sharks were back on the SCC road in a hostile environment Tuesday night playing a formidable foe.
But unlike last week, No. 3 SHA returned to the bus as winners after beating fellow defending CIAC champion Sheehan 54-44 in a battle of GametimeCT Top 10 teams.
The Sharks (13-2) used their trademark defense to turn a one-possession game at halftime into a 43-30 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Sacred Heart held No. 8 Sheehan (13-3) to a single field goal in outscoring the Titans 16-5 in the third quarter to take control, and never led by less than six points the rest of the way.
SHA senior Maddy Burke led all scorers with 18 points, and spearheaded both the Sharks' defense and offense in the third quarter.
Burke opened the second half with a 3-pointer, and her traditional 3-point play on a driving layup with 4:35 to play in the third gave Sacred Heart its first double-digit lead, 38-27. Burke finished with eight points in the period, as the Sharks held Sheehan scoreless over the final four minutes.
"Coming out in the second half, we made sure to put some defensive pressure on them," Burke said. "Playing in the SCC is obviously one of the toughest conferences. We played Mercy last week and obviously that didn't go how we wanted it to. But (that loss) has kind of lit a fire under us for the rest of the season."
Sacred Heart's 29-game win streak against state opponents ended seven days ago when Mercy of Middletown held off the Sharks 55-43. SHA's previous loss to a Connecticut team was to Stamford 48-43 on Dec. 13, 2024. Sacred Heart's other loss en route to winning last year's Class LL title was to New York's Christ the King.
It fell to Mater Dei of California earlier this season.
Sheehan led 15-13 after the first quarter, but the inside-outside duo of junior Mila Harmon and Molly Gunning allowed the Sharks to go back-and-forth with the Titans. The teams were tied three times in the second quarter, and traded leads four more times.
Second and third-chance points by Sacred Heart kept the Sharks in front of Sheehan for most of the second quarter, and SHA led 27-25 at halftime.
Both Harmon and Gunning finished with 14 points, with Gunning hitting four of the Sharks' nine 3-pointers in the contest.
Sheehan, the defending Class MM champions, got 17 points from senior Megan Wresien. The Titans' all-time career points leader's steal and layup with 4:29 to play go Sheehan as close at it would get, 47-41.
But again, it was the Sacred Heart defense that stepped up and held the Titans to just a single basket and three points the rest of the way.
"I thought we did a lot of good things, but we've been susceptible to scoring droughts and you saw that in the third quarter," Sheehan coach Mike Busillo said. "That's where the game got away from us,"
Wresien's sister Jenna hit two of Sheehan's six 3-pointers in the game, and she scored six points in just her second game of the season. Returning from an ACL injury, Jenna was on the bench for extended minutes instead of on the court, something Busillo said factored into his Titans' second loss to the Sharks this season.
Sacred Heart beat Sheehan 44-32 in the teams' first encounter Jan. 9.
"They outplayed us, no excuses there," Busillo said. "I don't know what our plus-minus was when Jenna was in the game, but she's on limited minutes and that's OK (for now). I thought she looked really good tonight."
"Sacred Heart has so many weapons, not only offensively, but defensively to guard Megan," Busillo added. "So without Jenna on the floor, it makes it really tough for Megan against the upper echelon teams."
Player of the Game
Molly Burke, Sacred Heart: The senior scored a game-high 18 points and started the second half with a 3-pointer as the Sharks outscored Sheehan 16-5 in the third quarter to take control of the game.
Quotable
"We really talked about putting together a 32-minute effort on both sides of the court. When we do that, things really open up for us."
- Jason Kirck, Sacred Heart head coach.
Sacred Heart 54, Sheehan 44
SHA 13 14 16 11-54
Sheehan 15 10 5 14-44
Sacred Heart: Molly Gunning 1 4 0-0 14, Maddy Burke 5 1 5-5 18, JJ Kirck 0 1 3-6 6, Mila Harmon 7 0 0-0 14, Finley Gunning 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 14 6 6-11 54.
Sheehan: Jenna Wresien 0 2 0-0 6, Gabby Busillo 0 2 0-0 6, Liv McKenna 0 2 0-0 6, Susie Hotaling 2 0 2-2 6, Mega Wresien 4 2 3-4 17, Julia Cassesse 0 1 0-0 3. Totals: 6 9 5-6 44.
3-point field goals:Sacred Heart-Gunning 4, Burke 1, Kirck 1. Sheehan-Jenna Wresien 2, Busillo 2, McKenna 2, Megan Wresien 2, Cassesse 1.
Team records:Sacred Heart 13-2; Sheehan 13-3.
This article originally published at No. 3 Sacred Heart Academy girls basketball gets back on track with win over No. 8 Sheehan.
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