SPB's High School Sports

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.

The SWC quarters had no upsets as No. 5 New Fairfield, No. 6 Pomperaug, No. 7 Weston and No. 8 ND-Fairfield all lost. So now we’ve got one more round until round until the Finals. Will we have a Stratford-Kolbe rematch in the title game? Here’s what I think.

No. 3 Newtown vs. No. 2 Kolbe
All about Newtown: Newtown is tough. They play very physical and look for contact on almost every play. Newtown could’ve beat KC on Feb. 9 but missed 18 free throws and turned the ball over twice in the last 20 seconds en route to a 63-62 loss. Casey Tenney is a solid ball handler who can score inside and out. Tenney dropped 21 on KC in a losing effort. Josh Engler is also a threat on the Newtown team.
All about KC: Even though the Cougars had a close game against Newtown, KC did seize control taking 9-point and 10-point leads at certain points of the game. Newtown, on the other hand, never seemed to have a firm grip on the game. KC only won by a point but could have won by more as it shot 3-10 from the line in the last minute of the game.
Prediction: KC 69-64
No. 4 Masuk vs. No. 1 Stratford
All about Masuk: Masuk lost to the Red Devils 64-42 on Jan. 15 and gave up 14 pts, 18 rebounds and 10 blocks to Brandon “The Big Shakespeare” Sherrod. The Panthers were all but shut down with no one scoring in double digits. Hard to envision a different outcome on Tuesday.
All about Stratford: Stratford dominated Masuk in the second half on Jan. 12. After leading 29-23 at the break, Stratford outscored Masuk 18-6 in the third. The Panthers really can’t hang with Stratford for 32 minutes. The only teams that can in the SWC are KC and maybe Newtown.
Prediction: Stratford 71-59

Unofficial quarterfinal awards
Baller of the quarterfinals, Brandon “The Big Shakespeare” Sherrod, Stratford: Had 14 pts, 17 rebounds and 13 blocks in a 57-46 win over ND-Fairfield.
From way downtown…bang award, Danny Carmichael, KC: Hit five 3’s and scored a game-high 33 points to lead KC to a74-59 win over Weston.
Stopper of the quarterfinals, Jalen Graham, Masuk: Had three blocks in Masuk’s 58-44 win over New Fairfield.

The Quarters came, went and took four teams fishing with it. No. 3 Harding, No. 5 Trumbull, No. 7 Trinity and No. 8 Ridgefield lost in a quarterfinal that didn’t come with many surprises, other than the Presidents losing. Let’s see who will be fishing after Tuesday. Start the boat!

No. 6 Stamford vs. No. 2 St. Joseph
All about Stamford: Marc Guirand came through with a layup with nine seconds left to help Stamford pull off the only upset of the day over Harding. The Black Knights got creamed by the Cadets just about a month ago (86-67, Feb. 12). SJ starts slow, so the Black Knights will have to take advantage of that or they could be out of it by halftime.
All about SJ: Timajh Parker has played so well that he’s earned himself a nickname (from me of course). Now when you see Parker, call him “too easy,” becasue basketball is just way too simple for this guy. 30 pts, 12 rbs and four blks against TC. The Cadets will need to get a hand in Guirand’s face, he hit seven 3’s in a losing effort on Feb. 12.
Prediction: St. Joseph 84-71

No. 4 Bassick vs. No. 1 Central
All about Bassick: As Ja’mill Powell’s mom told me after Bassick’s win over Trumbull, “we got them when it counted.” The Lions did just that and looked good in the second half over Trumbull outscoring the Eagles 47-32. But Bassick looked ugly against Central on Jan. 22 in a 65-57 loss where the Lions turned the ball over 37 times. However, Bassick is very long and Kyle Geer can bang in the paint with Jerome Parkins. Also the sg matchup of Powell and Jerry Washington (Central) is pretty even.
All about Central: Obviously Central plowed through Ridgefield 66-34 but, Central won’t have such an easy time with Bassick. Both these teams match up evenly at just about every position. This game will come down to defense, a battle that Central won last time. Although the Hilltoppers turned the ball over 21 times, they forced 37 Lions’ miscues.
Prediction: Central 74-59
Unofficial quarterfinal awards
Baller of the quarterfinals, Timajh “too easy” Parker, St. Joseph: Scored a game-high 30 points grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked four shots.
From way downtown…bang award, Julian Sanders, Trumbull: In a losing effort, Sanders nailed four treys.
Stoppers of the quarterfinals award, Central: It’s defense only gave up double digits in the fourth quarter (11) and the Hilltoppers were the only team to not lose a quarter on Saturday.