Nazareth’s Bianca Cuevas had 23 points Sunday. (An Rong Xu)
Lauren Best isn’t sure if her team’s backcourt is the best in the country. But with Syracuse-bound Brianna Butler, sophomore sensation Bianca Cuevas, West Virginia-bound Darius Faulk and the super strong Sadie Edwards, she isn’t exactly ruling that fact out either.
“It’s pretty close,” the Nazareth co-coach said with a chuckle. “It’s definitely at least top five. They’re all studs. Butler now, I think, is feeling her role and understanding her role and now is ready to win a state title.”
Butler, the transfer from Penn Charter (Pa.), had perhaps her best game in a Lady Kingsmen uniform Sunday in a 74-56 win over DePaul Catholic (N.J.) at the Kennedy Challenge girls basketball event in The Bronx. She poured in 24 points, drained six 3-pointers and made all of it look simply effortless. That came after a 20-point performance Saturday against Point Pleasant Boro (N.J.).
“I think she’s shooting the ball well and that’s just gonna continue for the rest of the season,” Edwards said. “I mean, when she’s shooting the ball well, that just makes us so much of a better team. When she’s shooting the ball well, that gives us all energy, not just her. That’s energy we all feed off of.”
While most teams in the city have anywhere from 15 to 20 games under their belt, Nazareth (8-1) hasn’t even cracked double digits. Two games were pushed back when coach Apache Paschall died tragically Jan. 3 of cardiac arrest. Before that, the Lady Kingsmen staggered their schedule, because Paschall was going through radiation treatments and fighting a form of skin cancer. The three transfers – Butler, Edwards and Destini Feagin – also were not cleared until mid-November.
“We’re a little far behind than other teams chemistry wise,” Butler said. “But the more we play games, you can see us making a change.”
Cuevas had 23 points and Edwards added 15 points against DePaul Catholic, which is coached by Ring City AAU head Maria Harper, the wife of former NBA star Ron Harper. Brianah Ramos had 20 points and Jade Walker had 19 for DePaul.
“They’re a solid team, but after awhile our guard play gets a little overwhelming for most opponents,” Edwards said.
The two victories this weekend sets Nazareth up for a big few days. The Lady Kingsmen host Bishop Ford on Tuesday, welcome Mary Louis on Wednesday and travel to Christ the King on Saturday.
Ford and Christ the King both declined to play Naz in the days following Paschall’s death because their administrations felt it was too soon. The Lady Kingsmen were adamant they wanted to play and athletic director Rochelle Murphy has asked CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens to declare those games forfeits. There has not been a resolution yet. This week’s games were scheduled to be the second meetings between the teams.
“We just felt like they were backing down from us,” Cuevas said.
Added Butler: “We were all ready to play [Ford] that day and the game got canceled. We want to win for Apache, too. [The anger] is still there.”
This will be by far Nazareth’s biggest stretch of the season to this point. The Lady Kingsmen will have a chance to validate that national ranking in the coming days – and actually get a consistent flow of games under their belt, too.
“We’re still trying to find our identity as a team,” Best said. “We’re getting better each game. … I feel like we’re still in preseason.”