SPB's High School Football

Just a quick note on the boys and girls basketball all-star games that will be played in the next few weeks. The CHSCA boys games will be Wednesday night at Maloney in Meriden. The JCC will be a few weeks later.

Here are the boys rosters for the CHSCA All-Star game:

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Despite some shaky foul shooting late, Windsor held off defending Class LL champion Crosby 72-69. Anthony Ireland’s 3-point buzzer rims out at the buzzer giving Windsor it’s first title since 1999.

Elsewhere, giant killer Bulkeley held off Torrington 58-57 in the Class L game on Brandon Jacob’s shot with five seconds remaining and Torrington’s Jordan Williams’ miss with no time left.

Sacred Heart won the NVL’s only title, beating CCC’s Bloomington 65-59 in Class M.

The CCC finishes state title day 2-1. Windsor should be crowned the No. 1 team in the state.

And, finally, Cromwell beat Hyde for the third out of four tries, 40-34, in the Class S final.

Imagine this, Fairfield County will not have a boys basketball team playing in the CIAC state championships at Mohegan Sun this weekend.

Kolbe Cathedral, a 69-51 loser to Cromwell, was the last county team to take a bow Wednesday night, joining the ranks of disposed that include New Fairfield (lost to Bloomfield in M semis), Central (lost to Windsor in LL semis), Stratford (lost to Torrington in L quarters), Trinity Catholc (lost to Bulkeley in L quarters).

Here’s who IS playing at Mohegan this Saturday:
Class LL: Crosby vs. Windsor
Class L: Bulkeley vs. Torrington
Class M: Sacred Heart vs. Bloomfield
Class S: Hyde Leadership vs. Cromwell

So that leaves us with three CCC teams, three NVL teams, and two teams from the Shoreline Conference.

A lot of people (Most notably our buddy and fast-emerging hoop guru Tommy “Razor”) have been saying all along that the CCC was the best conference in the state this season. I’ve been casting my ballot with the NVL (to many people’s chagrin. I got a lot of angry emails when I declared the NVL the state’s best during a midseason column.)

We’ll find out who’s boss in ’09 after Saturday. It’s a CCC vs. NVL brawl in the top three divisions. Somebody’s going to get at least two championships, and the crown of best league.

The winner of the Class LL title game will be crowned No. 1, even if Sacred Heart wins. The Hearts would have done themselves a favor by winning the NVL. But they didn’t even make the league final after a 19-1 regular season.

Them’s the breaks.

We’re here at Branford High School where a sparse crowd has gathered for Central-Norwich Free Academy Class LL quarterfinal game. We’re just about ready to get started.

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Stratford beat back short-handed Harding tonight, 50-40, in the first game between the two neighboring schools since 1985. Brandon Sherrod scored 14 points and had 20 rebounds as Stratford advanced to the Class L quarterfinals.

Harding, which was playing without leading scorer Mike Davis (arrested on robbery charges last week), shot just 14 of 54 and was felled by a 11-0 Stratford third-quarter run. Stephon Patterson gave Stratford a lift with six points off the bench during the third quarter.

Harding coach Charlie Bentley did not make any comments on any retirement plans after the game, saying only, “I haven’t thought about it.”

Stratford (2-1), faces NVL finalist Torrington–featuring 6-foot-7 center Jordan Williams–in the quarterfinals on Monday.

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Central held off Glastonbury 71-63 in a tight ballgame at Reilly Gymnasium that saw the Tomahawks rally from 16 points down to get within one with 3:25 left. But Central’s Diontay Washington and Jerome Parkins hit back-to-back big shots to give the Hilltoppers a four-point cushion they wouldn’t relinquish, not even by missing the front-end of three straight one-and-ones.

Glastonbury big man John Pinone led the way with 22 points. Washington and Parkins led five Central players in double figures with 17 and 16, respectively.

The Hilltoppers advance to the second round to play NFA, a 54-44 winner over Hamden in the quarterfinals Friday at a site to be determined.

(Incidentally, Glastonbury had recently dismissed seniors Peter Brazel and Ryan Cook, who were expelled from the team under suspicions of underage drinking in a February incident that was reported in the Hartford Courant and Fox 61 on Wednesday morning. Senior guard Jeff Pitkin did play after after the article said he served a school-imposed suspension.

Elswhere…

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In a move that surprised nobody, assistant coach Frank Marcucio was named Bassick’s next football coach today. He replaces Dennis Wanzie, who left after winning three games in two seasons with the program.

Marcucio, 46, is a business teacher at the school and also serves as a school district trainer. He’s served two years under Wanzie at Bassick and two at Wilbur Cross. He has also been an assistant at Newtown and Shelton, in addition to coaching freshman basketball at Seymour.

Marcucio had been the interim coach for the last three months as the Bridgeport board of education collected applications for the job.

With Tom Lennon‘s recent hiring at Seymour, that leaves several open jobs in the region, including Fairfield Warde and Notre Dame-Fairfield.

Stratford was just a little too much for Naugatuck in a first-round, 64-46 victory at Needham gymnasium. Brandon Sherrod scored 16 points, had 16 rebounds and six blocked shots as the Red Devils advance to the second round.

Their opponent? Harding. The No. 18 seeded Presidents defeated Bristol Eastern 52-42.

We fact-checkers are still at work in determining when the last time these border schools met. It’s been at least 20 years, we think.

Elsewhere…

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