CIAC High School state basketball championships are this weekend at Mohegan Sun. Here’s a quick look at the matchups.
The CIAC boys and girls basketball championships take place this weekend at Mohegan Sun Arena, with five state titles decided each day. Here’s a look at the matchups in order of play:
Saturday
Class M girls championship
No. 1 East Hampton (25-1) vs. No. 3 Valley Regional (21-4), 10 a.m.: The two Shoreline teams have played each other twice, with East Hampton winning both times but Valley was closer the second time, losing 44-39 on Feb. 3. Valley last played in a final in 1999, winning the Class S title and East Hampton hasn’t been to the championship since 1985 and last won a title in 1980.
Division V boys
No. 1 Windsor Locks (21-4) vs. No. 7 Shepaug Valley (17-7), 12:30 p.m.: Shepaug lost in the quarterfinals of the Berkshire League tournament to runner-up Litchfield but advanced to its first state final in 40 years with a 50-45 win over Lyman Memorial in the semifinal. Windsor Locks missed out last year when a buzzer-beater in the semifinal sent Windham to the championship game. Windsor Locks hasn’t been to a final since 2001, the year after current coach Dan Copes graduated.
Class S girls
No. 16 Kolbe Cathedral (14-10) vs. No. 10 Northwest Catholic (16-8), 3 p.m.: Both teams took their lumps in the regular season, Northwest Catholic in the CCC and Kolbe in the SWC, both had late-season four-game losing streaks and neither made it to their conference tournament. But their tough schedules served both well in the state tournament.
Class LL girls
No. 1 Hamden (26-0) vs. No. 2 Fairfield Ludlowe (26-0), 6:15 p.m.: The most highly anticipated girls game of the season will take place in LL, between SCC champion Hamden and FCIAC champ Fairfield Ludlowe. The last time the two faced each other was last year in the regular season and Hamden won, 49-48. This is the first state championship appearance for both teams.
Division I boys
No. 1 East Catholic (26-1) vs. No. 2 Northwest Catholic (21-3), 8:15 p.m.: East Catholic is the defending Div. I champ and Northwest is the Div. II runner-up. The two CCC teams faced each other Feb. 14 with East winning 70-49. Both lost to a game to out-of-state competition but Northwest was also bounced from the CCC tournament in the first round by Conard while East went on to win it.
Sunday
Division IV boys
No. 1 Cromwell (24-2) vs. No. 3 Ellington (22-4), 10 a.m.: Ellington lost to SMSA in the championship game of the NCCC tournament 52-48 and has been on a mission since. This will be the Knights’ first finals appearance since 1972 and they also played Cromwell, however, there are members of the boys soccer team who won a state championship last fall on the team. Cromwell won the Shoreline Conference tournament, beating Portland 58-43, one of its two losses in the regular season. Cromwell’s last tournament appearance was 2018, when the Panthers beat Wamogo for the Div. V title.
Class L girls
No. 1 Pomperaug (22-3) vs. No. 3 E.O. Smith (23-4), 12:30 p.m.: This is E.O. Smith’s first appearance in the state final since 2012 when the Panthers lost to Bacon Academy 38-34. E.O. Smith rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit for a 66-60 win over Holy Cross in the semifinal. Pomperaug beat Windsor 54-45 in the semifinal, led by Claudia Schneider’s 22 points.
Boys Division III
No. 2 Waterbury Career Academy (23-3) vs. No. 1 Bloomfield (23-3), 3 p.m.: Bloomfield, last year’s Div. IV champion, is on a mission to win one more game for “Coach Mo,” their beloved coach Kevin Moses who died of colon cancer in September. Brooks Sales, who went to the state finals as a player three times at Northwest Catholic, stepped in and brought the team to the CCC championship game, where the Warhawks lost to East Catholic 78-64, and then back to the state final. WCA won the NVL tournament and beat Platt 84-71 in the semifinals.
Boys Division II
No. 1 St. Bernard (24-3) vs. No. 7 Staples (21-6), 6:15 p.m.: St. Bernard, the ECC champion, will face off against Staples, which rallied from an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Fairfield Warde 57-55 in overtime to get to the final for the first time since 1937.
Girls Class MM
No. 4 Mercy (20-6) vs. No. 6 New London (20-6), 8:15 p.m.: Mercy faced New London coach Tammy Millsaps when she coached at Capital Prep in some highly-anticipated games and after coaching Capital Prep to four state titles, now she’s at New London, which last won a title in 2017. Mercy last won a championship in 2018.
