Norwich — Chris Guisti scouted the Holy Cross last week and saw no reason why his Norwich Free Academy Wildcats shouldn’t stick to their man-to-man defense in Monday's game.

Nothing ever goes as planned, of course, as Holy Cross led by as much as 14 points in the first quarter, prompting the Wildcats' to get out of their comfort zone and into a zone defense.

NFA’s 1-3-1 zone not only got it back into the game, it almost helped them beat the sixth-ranked team in the GameTimeCT/New Haven Register Top 10 boys' basketball poll.

Michael West pulled the Crusaders’ through by scoring their final nine points for a 44-40 win.

“It’s funny. … because the time I scouted them (their opponent) played (a) 3-2 (zone) and they cut it up,” Guisti said. “It was Friday night against WCA (Waterbury Career Academy, a 75-63 win) and they cut up the 3-2.

“I thought they would be better against it. I was surprised how ineffective they were.”

Holy Cross (7-1), hailing from the state’s hub for boys’ basketball (Waterbury), scored the game’s first eight points. Nyzair Rountree’s dunk at the buzzer gave the Crusaders a 17-3 lead after one quarter.

The Wildcats outplayed Holy Cross the rest of the game and had three brief leads in the third quarter.

“You have to give the credit to NFA,” Crusaders coach Ryan Olsen said. “They started out man-to-man and we looked good. That’s kind of what we’re used to in the NVL (Naugatuck Valley League), a lot of man-to-man, up-and-down the court, get out in transition and go. After they switched to that zone, they completely took us out of that game plan.

“We’re normally a pretty good team moving the ball against the zone, but today we were not. It was a horrible, horrible offense against the zone, and them switching to it was really the change in the game.”

DeAndre Wallace had nine points, eight rebounds and four blocks for Holy Cross, which has only lost to fourth-ranked and four-time state champion Sacred Heart (65-57, Jan. 3).

Rountree added 11 points and eight rebounds.

Bret Wood had 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks for NFA (6-2) and Nik Hay scored 12. Aidan Miller added 10 rebounds.

The Wildcats closed the first half with an 8-0 run. Hay started it with a short jumper, Wood followed with a three-point play, and Brendan Maher’s 3-pointer cut NFA’s deficit to 26-21.

Hay nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner to give the Wildcats their first lead, 28-27, with three minutes, 24 seconds left in the third quarter.

Wallace answered by converting an offensive rebound. Miller drove for a layup to put NFA back ahead, 30-29, with 2:50 left in the third.

Rountree’s basket gave Holy Cross the lead back at 2:16 before Wood’s short jumper gave NFA its final lead, 32-31, with 41 seconds left in the period.

Wallace scored on the Crusaders’ next possession to give them a 33-32 lead after three quarters.

The Wildcats’ Mason Jackson made a short jumper to tie the game at 35 with less than 5 minutes left, but West immediately responded with a 3-pointer, followed by a driving layup in the halfcourt, to put Holy Cross ahead for good, 40-35, with 2:19 remaining. He also made all four of his free throws with 29.9 left to ice the game.

“I was just talking to the coaches — we can’t get these guys to play harder or more together,” Guisti said about his Wildcats. “They already do that. We just have to find a way to get the ball in the basket more.”

n.griffen@theday.com