SPB's High School Sports

Stratford takes on Wilbur Cross in the Class L boys basketball semifinals; Masuk takes on Brookfield/Bethel/Danbury in the Division III hockey semifinals… Can’t go? Follow all the action here on our live scoring blog.

We’ll also have reports from Guilford-Northwest Catholic hockey and some of the other regional games.

We begin the final week of the winter sports season, but there’s so much more on tap for the next few days.

Tonight, we’ll have correspondents at the major Class LL boys basketball quarterfinals: Harding-Sacred Heart and Central-New Britain at the New Haven Athletic Center. We have St. Joseph vs. East Hartford in East Haven. And, yes, we may even get the Hillhouse-Windsor quarterfinal updates from Southington. We’ll also have Abbott Tech vs. Granby Memorial and Law vs. Bloomfield Class M quarterfinal updates.

In hockey we’re hoping to get Amity-Trumbull and St. Joseph-Branford Division II semifinal hockey updates from Ingalls Rink.

As always, the reports will come from our correspondents and citizen journalists via Twitter, which will show up here. Can’t get to the games, click the window below to follow all the action.

The CIAC has recently announced new legislation that enables it to punish coaches of member schools who publicly criticize basketball referees.

The rule, which goes into effect immediately, comes on the heels of Hillhouse boys basketball coach Kermit Carolina’s berating of officials following a close victory (yes, victory) over Xavier in Middletown last month.

According to the new legislation, already dubbed the ‘Kermit Rule’ by at least one media outlet covering the Academics, schools are fined $250 and the offending coach is suspended after the first offense. In a second offense, the coach is suspended for two games and the school fined $500.

A third offense means the offending coach is disqualified for the rest of the season and the school is fined $750.

Should the third offense come at or near the end of the season, the coach will be suspended for a minimum of five games. If the season ends before that five-game suspension is completed, it will be carried into the next season.

With each infraction, the CIAC also requires a report from offending school’s administration on how they are handling the situation.

To be fair, and (hopefully) to prevent overzealous enforcement by king CIAC, there is a public appeals process in place.

Read the full policy here.

I’ve heard good arguments for and against the new policy.

Since I believe open criticism of referees is wrong, that it goes against everything we should be teaching our student athletes, I believe this policy is — in fact — the correct way to go.

Yes, it can be invasive,  much like the CIAC’s 50-point policy is over school administrations. Would we much rather have this handled in-house? Yes.

But the lines can get blurred around a school’s supposed objectivity. Maybe an athletic director believes his coach was justified in making critical comments and won’t take any hard-line action. Or maybe they simply don’t believe action is necessary at all.

In any case, I believe a third-party should needs to intervene in these cases. Any problems a coach or athletic director or principal has with certain referees or officials boards must be handled behind closed doors; so when we walk onto the field or into a gymnasium, our participants can maintain an even greater degree of integrity and sportsmanship, instead of squabbling over who might have gotten screwed by whom.

Besides, if you believe your team has been so egregiously harmed by the actions of a referee, you’re still welcome to let us know. You’ll just have to pay to do it.

We’re going to return this feature to the regular sports blog, in case there are those out there who haven’t found them on the regular sports channels of our sports websites.

We’re covering the Class L and S boys basketball quarterfinals and the Division II boys hockey quarterfinals tonight.

We’ll have correspondents at the Stratford-Avon game in Class L and the Kolbe Cathedral-Prince Tech; Ansonia-Hyde Class S games. Plus there’s sure to be plenty of other Tweets from other statewide papers.

Most likely, reader comments will accepted but not approved until later in the evening as we’re compiling all the results and look forward to the final week of the 2009-10 winter season.

As always, you can report your scores from your game via Twitter. Just tweet the results from your moblie phone or other device and make sure to add #ctbb (for boys basketball), #ctgb (for girls basketball) or #cthk (for hockey) so everybody can watch your updates live.

Anyway, let’s get on with the games…

<a href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=942a94bcb5″ mce_href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=942a94bcb5″ >Live High School Scoring Updates (March 12)</a>

Casey Cochran has quite a first-year in western Connecticut.

Just a season removed from a state championship with his father’s team at New London, the New London-turned-Masuk quarterback was the state’s top statistical passing leader and a Connecticut Post first-team selection.

Now, deep into preparation for his junior year, Cochran is already starting to feel the gaze of large college programs with his first Division I offer.

According to Masuk coach John Murphy, the 6-foot-1, 220-pound quarterback has already been offered a full scholarship to Boston College.

Cochran, who threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 26 touchdowns as a sophomore, has been participating in passing leagues with his father, Jack Cochran, and a few other high-profile Connecticut high school football players (more on that later).

The publicity machine has been working overtime on getting the word out. Here’s his sophomore year highlight reel from Bromes Productions we came across on YouTube.

The CIAC released its official state tournament rankings today and here’s a quick layman’s look at the brackets. We’ll delve more into it later.

As expected, it’s another battle royale in Class LL. Our FCIAC finalists, Central and St. Joseph are 1-2 in the rankings, with recently-deposed SCC champion Hillhouse looking to erase the sting of their 41-34 loss to North Haven in this year’s league final with a glorious state championship. NVL finalist Sacred Heart and SWC finalist Newtown are waiting in the wings.

St. Joseph as a tough draw as the No. 2 seed, with a possible 2nd round matchup with Crosby or maybe even Stamford, which gave the Cadets all kinds of trouble in Tuesday’s FCIAC semifinals. In the upper bracket, Harding has what could be a nice road to the quarterfinals. Ridgefield’s up first followed possibly by Newtown. If Willie Gray and the Presidents can make it to the quarters (no, I don’t think Newtown is going to be an easy out, but Harding has a tendency to show up big in these tournaments), Josh Turner and Sacred Heart may await them.

Hillhouse, meanwhile, has an insanely smooth road to, at least the quarterfinals, maybe even the semifinals. The Academics, who open with No. 30 Simsbury) face relatively few heavyweights. Trumbull might put up a fight in the second round. Windsor figures to be a tough battle in the quarterfinals. But, really, expect the burned Academics to reach the semis… where St. Joseph, Crosby or (yes, maybe even) Stamford await them.

Central has it slightly tougher as it looks to reach its first state championship game since winning it all in 2003. The top-ranked Hilltoppers figure to reach at least the quarterfinals, but will likely have to take out a tough No. 8 in New Britain or No. 9 Holy Cross. Sacred Heart or Xavier could await them in the semifinals.

Of course, bracket quality drops off severely in a light Class L tournament, where it looks like a battle between Stratford and New London. Both schools have byes on the road to the championship. Stratford has to contend with the likes of Pomperaug (2nd round); Maloney (quarterfinals) and Wilbur Cross or Kennedy (semifinals). Wilbur Cross, at No. 12, is certainly the team to watch on the bracket’s lower half.

New London has to contend with No. 15 Weaver (2nd  round); North Haven, Wilby or Branford in the quarterfinals; then Bristol Eastern, Northwest Catholic or … yes, maybe even Bassick in the semifinals.

It’s been another crazy year at Bassick, the No. 11 seed.  The Lions have an intriguing draw with Career in the first round, they’re the type of team that could get knocked out there, or become a major bracket buster.

Still, this looks like Stratford and New London’s bracket to lose.

(By the way, congratulations to Fairfield Warde, which joins the fray as a No. 24 seed. They travel to No. 9 Avon in the first round. Keep an eye on the Mustangs.)

In Class M, Abbott Tech gets to show the rest of the state that it’s not your typical Tech school. They have a nice draw. They could get New Fairfield in the second round, but mostly the path is laden with teams below Abbott’s level.

Abbott’s road, however, becomes a minefield in the semifinals with a possible matchup with No. 3 Bloomfield, No. 14 Trinity Catholic, and maybe even No. 22 Weston or No. 11 Law (Those two play each other in the first round, winner has a chance to go relatively far).

In the top half, Seymour (at No. 17), Sheehan (No. 8 ) and Cromwell (4) are bracket busters to watch.

In Class S, it’s the Kolbe Cathedral and Hyde show. Somebody, anybody, please do something about this. They don’t belong here.

Class LL

The top seeds: 1. Central; 2. St. Joseph; 3. Hillhouse; 4. Sacred Heart; 5. Newtown

Byes: None. Playdowns: NFA at West Haven (Friday, 7)

Other regional schools: 11. Notre Dame-WH; 12. Harding; 14. Trumbull; 18. Stamford; 19. New Milford; 21. Ridgefield; 23. Greenwich; 24. McMahon; 27. Staples; 29. Fairfield Prep; 32. West Haven.

Schedule:
1st Round: Tuesday, March 9
2nd Round: Thursday, March 11
Quarterfinals: Monday, March 15
Semifinals: Wednesday, March 17
Championship: at Mohegan Sun Arena, March 19 or 20

Class L

The Top Seeds: 1. Stratford; 2. New London; 3. Bristol Eastern; 4. E.O. Smith; 5. East Lyme.

Byes: Stratford, New London; Bristol Eastern; E.O. Smith; East Lyme.

Other regional schools: No. 11 Bassick; No. 14 Masuk; No. 17 Pomperaug; No. 23 Platt Tech; No. 24 Fairfield Warde; No. 25 Norwalk; No. 27 Notre Dame-Fairfield.

Schedule:
1st Round: Monday, March 8
2nd Round: Wednesday, March 10
Quarterfinals: Friday, March 12
Semifinals: Tuesday, March 16
Championship: at Mohegan Sun Arena, March 19 or 20

Class M

The Top Seeds: No. 1 Nonnewaug; No. 2 Abbott Tech; No. 3 Bloomfield; No. 4 Cromwell; No. 5 Enfield

Byes: None.

Other regional schools: No. 11 Law; No. 14 Trinity Catholic; No. 15 New Fairfield; No. 17 Seymour; No. 22 Weston; No. 25 Bullard-Havens; No. 27 Bethel; No. 32 Immaculate.

Schedule:
1st Round: Tuesday, March 9
2nd Round: Thursday, March 11
Quarterfinals: Monday, March 15
Semifinals: Wednesday, March 17
Championship: at Mohegan Sun Arena, March 19 or 20

Class  S

The Top Seeds: 1. Hyde; 2. Kolbe Cathedral; 3. Litchfield; 4. Valley Regional: 5. Coginchaug.

Byes: Hyde; Kolbe Cathedral; Litchfield

Other regional schools: No. 9 Ansonia.

Schedule:
1st Round: Monday, March 8
2nd Round: Wednesday, March 10
Quarterfinals: Friday, March 12
Semifinals: Tuesday, March 16
Championship: at Mohegan Sun Arena, March 19 or 20.

1. Bridgeport Central (20-1) (13) 444 1 LL
2. Stratford (21-0) (2) 422 2 L
3. Hyde (21-0) 372 3 S
4. New London (20-1) 364 4 L
5. Hillhouse (19-2) 310 5 LL
6. Bloomfield (20-2) 302 6 M
7. St. Joseph (19-2) 288 7 LL
8. Sacred Heart (18-3) 228 9 LL
9. Windsor (18-4) 222 NR LL
10. E.O. Smith (19-3) 138 8 L
KC got 117 votes, second most of a team not in the poll.

(First Place Votes) Record
Rank 1.Bridgeport Central (17) 20-1
2.Stratford (2) 21-0
3.Hyde Leadership 21-0
4.New London 20-1
5.Hillhouse19-2
6.Bloomfield 20-2
7.St. Joseph 19-2
8.Sacred Heart 18-3
9.E.O. Smith19-3
T10.Kolbe Cathedral 19-2
T10.Northwest Catholic 18-4

Nothing really changed, or should change, with Central and Stratford up top. SJ is holding steady at the 7-spot. KC works its way into the top 10 for the first time all season.