SPB's High School Sports

Get out your fishing poles and start up the boat because four SWC teams will be going fishing by the end of Saturday night. Here is who I think it will be.

 No. 8 Notre Dame-Fairfield vs. No. 1 Stratford
All about Stratford: They do everything well. They shoot well, their bench is deep, they have the best big man in the conference and possibly the state Brandon Sherrod and Russell Payton is a stud. Need I say more?
All about ND-Fairfield: There is something to be said about a team’s momentum after fighting into the playoffs they way ND did. However, Stratford is just so good it’ll take more than momentum or heart to beat them. Love Arkel Miles and Dan Upchurch but they just don’t have enough.
Prediction: Stratford 82-54

No. 7 Weston vs. No. 2 Kolbe Cathedral
All about KC: Weston gave them quite a scare on Monday (77-75 win in double overtime). However, no one can guard Ronnie Underwood and Calvin Wade has been very consistent at the point.
All about Weston: Weston is no joke and Dennis Levene is a beast. But I think their 11-9 record is a product of a weak SWC and a few cupcakes on the ole’ schedule (Amistad Academy twice and a forfiet win over Stamford Academy).
Prediction: KC 74-63

 No. 6 Pomperaug vs. No. 3 Newtown
All about Newtown: Newtown is arguably the most physical team in the SWC. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them knock off KC in the semis.
All about Pomperaug: They gave Stratford a good game in a losing effort back in January falling 59-55. Newtown beat them by 9 on Monday but Pompy only trailed by four at the half. This is not your typical sixth seed
Prediction: Newtown 67-61

No. 5 New Fairfield vs. No. 4 Masuk
All about Masuk: They beat New Fairfield by 8 in January. They’ve also won four straight heading into the postseason. Brendan Buckley is a stud but, Mat Pils has to play tough and get boards to ensure a victory.
All about New Fairfield: They’ve won 5 of their last 7 but, they’ve got to shoot free throws better than they have in big games this season. They were 10-21 in a 15-point loss to Newtown. They also shot 14-27 in a 9-point loss to KC. They make some free ones and those are two huge wins on the schedule.
Prediction: Masuk 56-48

Well, its playoff time once again. Let’s look at who has the best chance to walk away from the quarters with a W and who will be going fishing.

No. 8 Ridgefield vs. No. 1 Central
All about Central: Central beat these guys 86-53 way back in Dec. Central has not really lost a game all year, if you know what I mean.
All about Ridgefield: The Tigers looked good early but have lost 3 of its last 4. Oh, and Central did spank them last time.
Prediction: Central 79-56

No. 7 Trinity Catholic vs. No. 2 St. Joseph
All about St. Joes: Okay, they lost to the Crusaders but that was off a lucky shot. Since the loss, SJ has won 18 of its last 19. The Cadets did beat TC but only by 2 on Dec. 30. However, SJ is firing on all cylinders and just looks like a different team right now.                                                                                                                                                                                          All about Trinity Catholic: They have been winning lately but not by much. A 2-point win over Staples and a 3-point win over Greenwich makes me wonder if they can hang with a hot Cadets team.
Prediction: SJ 84-63

No. 6 Stamford vs. No. 3 Harding
All about Harding: The Presidents can be wildly inconsistent. An 81-46 loss to Bassick followed up by a 81-62 blow out of Trumbull has to have coach Bentley scratching his head. However, they have good guard play (Armando Lopez, Laquan Mendenhall, etc.) and Willie Gray is an outside threat and aggressive when attacking the basket. Stamford did give Harding a good game, that the Presidents won 65-61, on Jan. 8
All about Stamford: Stamford did give Harding a good game but, the Black Knights struggle against teams with winning records. Only 4 of its 11 wins are against teams with records over .500.
Prediction: Harding 67-59

No. 5 Trumbull vs. No. 4 Bassick
All about Bassick: Demetrius Thomas is a stud and will be a difference maker against Trumbull. The Lions can be very inconsistent and careless but, Jeremy Daniel is a smart PG and Ja’mill Powell has out of the gym range.
All about Trumbull: The Eagles dominated Bassick in their first meeting but let the Lions back into it which led to the OT session. Julian Sanders will have to come up big and Rejdi Canaj’s outside shooting will be crucial to offset Powell’s.
Prediction: Bassick 71-67 (In regulation lol.)

The SCC boys basketball quarterfinals are now set. It had a bit more intrigue than the girls tournament a week ago, with No. 10 Lyman Hall taking down No. 7 Law and No. 9 Hamden derailing an anticipated Hillhouse-Xavier rematch (complete with New Haven County referees) by defeating the No. 8 Falcons 58-54.

So the SCC boys basketball quarterfinals on Saturday at East Haven are set.

Here’s the bracket heading into the weekend’s games.

Hamden plays top-seeded and favored Hillhouse at noon.

Notre Dame-West Haven, which handled crosstown rival West Haven relatively well at home, advances to play Wilbur Cross in the 1:45 matchup. Wilbur Cross crushed No. 13 Fairfield Prep.

In the bottom half of the draw we have Branford vs. North Haven and No. 2 Sheehan vs. Lyman Hall.

It’s time for the second season.

The boys basketball brackets have been finalized with the end of the 2009-10 regular season.

Click on the windows below to get the visual picture of the big three tournaments. We’ll add the CSC and the NVL shortly.

The CIAC  has released the pairings for the 2010 girls basketball tournament. It’s stacked in Class L and LL. Not so much in Class M or S.

Class LL — Top Seeds: No. 1 Lauralton Hall, No. 2 St. Joseph, No. 3  Norwich Free Academy, No. 4 Career.

Byes: 1. Lauralton, 2. St. Joseph, 3. NFA, 4. Career, 5. Holy Cross, 6. Ridgefield, 7. Manchester, 8. Stamford, 9. Mercy.

Other regional schools: No. 10 Staples, No. 12 Danbury, No. 14 McMahon, No. 17 Trumbull, No. 19 Newtown, No. 23 Bridgeport Central.

First round: Tuesday, March 2. Second round: Friday, March 5; Quarterfinals: Thursday, March 11; Semifinals: Monday, March 15. Championship: March 19 or  20 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Class L — Top Seeds: No. 1 Northwest Catholic; No. 2 E.O. Smith; No. 3 Wethersfield; No. 4 Berlin

Byes: None

Other regional schools: No. 5 Pomperaug; No. 8 Trinity Catholic; No. 12 New Canaan; No. 16 Bunnell; No. 21 Darien; No. 28 Fairfield Warde; No.  29 Masuk; No. 30 Notre Dame-Fairfield.

First round: Monday, March 1. Second round: Thursday, March 4; Quarterfinals: Wednesday, March 10; Semifinals: Saturday, March 13. Championship: March 19 or  20 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Class M – Top Seeds: No. 1 Brookfield, No. 2 Sheehan, No. 3 Windham, No. 4. Lewis Mills.

Byes: Brookfield, Sheehan.

Other regional schools: No. 5 Law; No. 6 Kolbe Cathedral; No. 12 Immaculate; No. 14 Weston; No. 15 Ansonia; No. 19 New Fairfield; No. 25 Foran.

First round: Tuesday, March 2. Second round: Friday, March 5; Quarterfinals: Thursday, March 11; Semifinals: Monday, March 15. Championship: March 19 or  20 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Class S — Top Seeds: No. 1 Thomaston, No. 2 Bolton, No. 3 St. Paul, No. 4. Capital Prep.

Byes: Thomaston.

Other regional schools: No. 21 Derby, No. 22 Platt Tech, No. 27 Abbott Tech.

Here’s an updated look at the FCIAC playoff picture. The favorite is Central but, don’t sleep on St. Joseph. Curious to see if Harding can get it together. Not sure how far Bassick can go, but they match up evenly with Trumbull. Also the Lions must have revenge on their minds after the OT loss  to the Eagles at the Arena.

FCIAC Playoffs (*Clinched berth)

Team, Record (Tiebreakers)
1. Bridgeport Central* 16-1
2. St. Joseph* 15-2
3. Harding* 14-3
4. Bassick* 12-5
5. Trumbull 11-6
6. Trinity 10-7
(2-1 vs. Ridgefield, McMahon and Stamford – Beat Ridgefield. Upcoming game: Wed. vs. Staples)
7. Ridgefield 10-7
(2-1 vs. Trinity, McMahon and Stamford – Lost to Trinity: Upcoming game: Wed. vs. Greenwich)
8. Stamford 10-7
(1-1 vs. Trinity, Ridgefield. Upcoming game: Wed. at McMahon)
9. Brien McMahon 10-7
(0-2 vs. Trinity, Ridgefield Upcoming game: Wed. vs. Stamford)
10. Staples 9-8
(Upcoming game:  Wed.  at Trinity Catholic)

Direct from the home office of the Southern Connecticut Conference (which is probably the den at Al Carbone’s home), the SCC boys basketball tournament pairings.

Hillhouse, Sheehan and North Haven are your top seeds and receive byes to the quarterfinals. That leaves the remaining 10 state tournament qualifiers to duke it out for the right to advance to East Haven for the quarterfinals.

Seeds 4-10 play Thursday in the first round at the site of the higher seed. The quarterfinals are all-day Saturday, followed by semifinals Monday and the championship game Tuesday at the TD Banknorth Arena on the campus of Quinnipiac University.

Hillhouse is your prohibitive favorite to win the title.

And, right on cue, here are the nuts and bolts of this year’s SCC boys tournament (again, from our buddy Al):

SCC PLAYOFF FIELD
#1 Hillhouse (18-2), #2 Sheehan (15-5), #3 North Haven (16-4) – receive
first round byes

#4 Wilbur Cross (14-6), #5 Notre Dame (15-5), #6 Branford (15-5), #7
Jonathan Law (14-6), #8 Xavier (14-6), #9 Hamden (12-8), #10 Lyman Hall
(11-9), #11 Career (11-9), #12 West Haven (8-12), #13 Fairfield Prep (9-11)

As we head into the last week of the season, here is a look at the top 10 teams in the CSWA poll. Central and Stratford still hold steady at 1 and 2. Also St. Joseph is in the 7 spot. It would be nice to see Central and SJ in the FCIAC Final. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

RankTeam (First Place Votes) Record
Rank 1.Bridgeport Central (17)17-1; 2.Stratford (4)18-0; 3.Hyde Leadership19-0; 4.New London18-1; 5.Hillhouse17-2; 6.Bloomfield17-2; 7.St. Joseph16-2; 8.E.O. Smith 17-2; 9.Sacred Heart16-3; 10.Bristol Eastern 17-2