SPB's High School Sports

It’s Christmas Tournament season (already) in boys basketball. We’ve already crowned a few tourney champs (Trinity Catholic over St. Joseph in the Northeast Classic; Newtown in the Weston Holiday Tourney) and we’ll crown some more tonight (Fairfield Prep Holiday Tournament: ND-Fairfield v. Fairfield Ludlowe; Merit Insurance Classic: Stratford v. Pomperaug).

This is usually the time when we enjoy some low-stakes hoops, take a deep breath and then take the plunge into the high-stakes league seasons.

Before we get to do that, let’s take a quick look at where we stand so far.

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Derby’s Board of Education has voted 7-0 to accept an invitation to join the Naugatuck Valley League along with St. Paul of Bristol.

Here’s the story filed Monday night by Mevin Mason.

Derby wishes to leave the super-conference by the end of this academic year, meaning the SCC must now scramble to fill the void, especially in football which is now down to 19 teams and looking at nine byes (Derby’s Thanksgiving rivalry with Shelton apparently will be maintained under a new NVL football structure).

Hello everybody! It’s a snow day! — our first major snowfall of the year so everything’s off. Instead of heading over to St. Joseph, for an early anticipated battle between FCIAC rivals St. Joe and Central — not to mention coach Vito Montelli’s court dedication — I’m hunkered down at home with hot cocoa, trying to get a 2008 Football Connecticut Post All-Star team together for publication the weekend after Christmas.

But first, we got a handle on all the boys basketball postponements for today. Most of the games are tomorrow (Saturday), but there are also a few pushed to Monday or Tuesday.

Here’s what we have so far:

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Plenty happened on opening night: In the shocker of the night (because of the score, not the result): Ludlowe spanks Bassick 69-55 (strong defense, balanced scoring). …Notre Dame-West Haven routs East Haven for coach Gary Palladino’s 500th victory. …freshman Trey McPherson has a strong opening night for Notre Dame-Fairfield in the SWC tipoff tournament win over Abbott Tech (15 pts. 5 steals). …Hand outlasts Masuk (SCC 1, SWC 0). …Stratford beats Amity (SCC 1, SWC 1). …Trinity Catholic transfer Zac Messinger leads Ridgefield with 26 points, but Central gets 22 from Jerome Parkins and 20 from Jerry Washington in a 15-point home win. …Harding struggles early, but puts Darien away. …Andrei Oztemel (25 points) and John DeBartolomeo (at right, scoring two of his 17 points), lead Staples past Fairfield Warde.

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Ladies and Gentlemen…

The 2008-09 boys basketball season tips off tonight!

Before we dip into the previews, let’s take a look at the local docket (all games are at 7 unless noted):

TONIGHT’S SCHEDULE: Amity at Stratford … Ansonia at Sacred Heart … Ridgefield at Central … Trinity Catholic at McMahon … Bullard-Havens at Abbott Tech … Derby at North Haven … Staples at Fairfield Warde, 7:45 … Shelton at Foran … Harding at Darien … Law at Hamden … Masuk at Hand (another interesting one. Masuk’s Scott Corchard and Jake Davies vs. Hand’s Callaghan brothers) … Norwalk at New Canaan (The report is NC senior guard Jamie Pares is done with a knee injury) … East Haven at ND-West Haven … O’Brien Tech at Platt Tech (rivalry game already) … Seymour at Kennedy … Wilton at Trumbull, 7:15 … Career at West Haven … Weston at Stonington, 7:15 …Hamden Hall at Greens Farms, 4:30 … Christian Heritage at Harvey, 5:30.

GAME OF THE NIGHT: Ludlowe at Bassick, 7 — Bassick’s looking like one of the top suitors for the crown sitting on Trinity Catholic’s head. A top guard in Mike Lomax and talented up-and-comers Josh Hamilton, Jeremy Daniels, Jeremy Williams. Ludlowe lost its top two scoring threats, Drew Billington and Brian Tharp, who helped the Falcons topple Bassick 62-52 last year. Ludlowe brings back solid seniors Brian Grasso, a 5-10 guard and Chris Curran a 6-2 forward. We like Bassick in this one, but don’t be surprised to see Ludlowe show up.

NOW… on to the previews:

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Looks like Derby and the NVL will finally get to tie the knot.

After years of being turned down by league’s brass, it looks like Derby will finally be invited into the Naugatuck Valley League, according to a report in the Waterbury Republican-American, the NVL’s unofficial paper of record.

Apparently, the exclusion of St. Paul-Bristol from the recent conference shake-and-bake that has destroyed and is destroying the Nutmeg football league and the NWC, has given the NVL the impetus it needs to expand to a an even 14.

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So sayeth the state media poll conducted by the one and only Mr. Hoops.

Team (2008 rec)(1st place)……….Pts……….Last
1. Trinity Catholic (24-4) (7)………….404………..2
2. Windsor (25-2) (5)…………………..392……….3
3. Crosby (26-1) (2)……………………352………..1
4. Hillhouse (16-6)……………………..313……..NR
5. Hartford Public (19-6)………………254……..NR
6. Lyman Hall (21-7)…………………..191………10
7. Bloomfield (15-10)………………….171………NR
8. Harding (20-7)……………………….166……….6
9. Torrington (18-6)…………………….132………NR
10. St. Joseph (19-6)………………….121………NR
Dropped out: Maloney (4), New London (5), Stratford (7), Wilbur Cross (8), Notre Dame-West Haven (9).
Others receiving votes:
11. Sacred Heart (16-8), 115;
12. East Catholic (19-4), 93;
13. Notre Dame-West Haven (21-4), 84;
14. Wilbur Cross (24-1), 76;
15. East Hartford (11-10), 71;
16. Kolbe Cathedral (21-7), 70;
17. New Britain (10-12), 62;
18. New London (24-2), 61;
19. Glastonbury (16-5), 55;
20. Maloney (21-6), 53;
21. Cromwell (18-6), 51;
22. Bassick (18-6), 42;
23. Greenwich (17-7), 35;
24. E.O. Smith (17-9), 30;
25. Northwest Catholic (19-6), 29;
26. Holy Cross (18-6), 28;
27. Hyde (19-6), 26;
28. New Canaan (19-5), 21;
29. Stratford (22-6), 17;
30. Notre Dame-Fairfield (17-6), 14;
31. Xavier (17-6), 9;
32. Capitol Prep (19-7), 8;
33. Norwich Free Academy (22-3),
34. Norwalk (7-13) and Staples (8-13), 7.
The following voted: Marc Allard, Norwich Bulletin; Bill Bloxsom, Hersam-Acorn; Sean Patrick Bowley, Connecticut Post; Matt Doran, Norwalk Hour; Scott Ferrari, Greenwich Citizen; Ned Griffen, The Day of New London; Mark Jaffee, Waterbury Republican-American; Ken Lipshez, New Britain Herald; Joe Morelli, New Haven Register; Paul Nichols, Middletown Press; Dave Ruden, Stamford Advocate; John Silver, Journal Inquirer of Manchester; Ben Talbott, Bird’s Eye Sports; Tom Yantz, Hartford Courant.

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Got this note from Ludlowe coach Josh Marko and will pass it along on here as well as our paper.

“The Fairfield Ludlowe boys basketball team is holding its second holiday toy collection at its Friday home game at 7 p.m.

Donations mus be unwrapped items for either boys or girls from ages 5-16 years. Basketballs, footballs, baseballs, with gloves, action figures, dolls, board games, CDs, DVDs, scarves, hats, gloves, books or electronic games are all accepted.

Your donations will be delivered to the Cardinal Shehan Center and will be distributed to Bridgeport children at the Center’s Holiday Party, Dec. 20.

Ludlowe is organizing this drive to help needy children and show its appreciation to the Shehan Center’s support for youth and high school basketball in Greater Bridgeport.

If you cannot attend the game but would like to contribute an item, drop it at the Ludlowe Main Office before Friday at 3.”