Nolan puts on a show

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: January 7, 2016

Junior guard goes for 40 points as top-ranked Sacred Heart takes out Weaver

Kevion Nolan came out aggressive and stayed in rhythm. (File photo)

By Jason Katz
For East Alabama Sports Today

WEAVER — All Kevion Nolan needed to silence the Weaver fans Thursday night was a few seconds. A few seconds here and a 3, a few seconds here and a 2, a few seconds after that, a slam dunk.

All those seconds strung together allowed him to do something special.

Nolan had 40 points in the game as he and the top-ranked Sacred Heart Cardinals team worked towards an 82-59 win over Weaver, which allowed them to beat another team in a higher classification this season.

“Kevion played extremely well tonight,” Cardinals coach Ralph Graves. “He erupts for big games like that and has done it a few times already this year.”

Nolan was in rhythm, for sure; he also had four steals and six rebounds. He scored more in the game than Weaver did in three quarters of play. He had seven 3-pointers and was 7-for-8 from the foul line.

“It feels great,” said Nolan. “Coach told me to come out aggressive and I did just that and really got on it tonight.”

The junior has good reason to believe that his future will be bright, as he is already entertaining offers from schools such as South Alabama, Troy, Samford, Wichita State, Middle Tennessee, and a visit with Avery Johnson and Alabama on Saturday.

“I just come out and stay aggressive,” he said. “Nights like tonight, the rim just keeps getting bigger and bigger as I get more and more in rhythm. Some nights I’m just on.”

The Sacred Heart fans were ecstatic with each Nolan possession, which usually ended in some form of scoring. The pinnacle of the night was a steal and slam towards the end of the game that punctuated the accomplishment.

Although Nolan took the spotlight on the evening other players stepped up and made an impact for the Cardinals. Diante Wood had 26 points, nine rebounds and a steal. DJ Heath had nine points.

Malik Arnold led Weaver with 16 points and seven rebounds.

“You have to match aggression with aggression,” Weaver coach Daryl Hamby said. “Tonight we just did not play with a lot of passion against a really good team.”

Nolan and his teammates are sure to dazzle the remainder of the year as they look for yet again another area win and run at a state title. They are the top-seeded team in next week’s Calhoun County Tournament, where they are the defending champions.

“We are focused on winning state,” said Nolan. “That is our main goal this season.”

Sacred Heart will look to continue their dominance in 1A area play Tuesday against Faith Christian. Weaver will head to Piedmont Friday for an important 3A area game.

“Right now we are just taking it game by game,” Graves said. “Our goal right now is to win our games and host the area tournament. That’s all we can do, there is no way to look ahead. We just focus on the here and now.”

This story will be updated.

Sacred Heart 82, Weaver 59

SACRED HEART — Diante Wood 7 12-14 26, Sam Miller 0 0-0 0, Murdock Simmons 1 0-0 2, D.J. Heath 3 3-3 9, Caleb Lafollette 0 0-0 0, Stephen Stansil 0 1-2 1, Jon Riley Miller 2 0-3 4, Kevion Nolan 13 7-8 40. Totals 26 23-30 82.

WEAVER — Delo Forbes 3 2-2 9, Jalen Heath 0 0-2 0, Craig Copeland 3 0-0 7, Paul Hubbard 4 1-2 9, London Knight 3 0-2 6, Dalton Hamby 1 2-4 5, R.J. Wooden 0 2-2 2, Maurice Goodman 0 0-0 0, Dane Akers 1 0-0 3, Gio Mosley 0 0-0 0, Malik Arnold 6 4-6 16, Ducky Moore 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 11-20 59.

Sacred Heart 24 16 21 21 — 82
Weaver 9 16 14 20 — 59

3-point goals: Sacred Heart 7 (Nolan 7); Weaver 4 (Forbes, Copeland, Hamby, Akers). Fouled out: Miller, Mosley. Total fouls: Sacred Heart 19, Weaver 24. Officials: Howell, Kelley, Gilbert.