It has been the "off-season" so it has been a little quiet in the high school realm with the exception of the basketball all-star games.
That's all about to change.
Spring has sprung and even the weather, occasionally, feels that way. This coming Wednesday will bring us the first games of the final sports season of the school calendar year and also the busiest in terms of number of athletics offered.
Baseball, softball, track,tennis, golf, lacrosse, even volleyball, sailing and crew are offered throughout the schools in the area. Check out the Norwich Bulletin or Bulletin on-line for a preview of all the high school sports beginning Monday.
To wrap up the winter season, the Bulletin is also publishing a beautiful 16-page All-Area section this week. The choices for players of the year and coaches of the year will be revealed in each sport as chosen by local coaches and members of the Bulletin Sports staff. I hope you like it and I hope you're ready for spring.

I know not everyone is happy to see Eastern Connecticut grow in terms of population. But one thing that expansion has allowed for, in athletics any way, is the ability for schools to broaden their horizons.
We're seeing that happen to many schools in the Eastern Connecticut Conference as new athletic offerings have been popping up as of late.
After years of staying the course in Waterford, Waterford High School has now started to add some new programs.
Volleyball began this past fall as a JV program and will become varsity this fall. Gymnastics came on line as a cooperative program with Fitch and, this spring, lacrosse will be offered for the first time for both boys and girls. It will begin on the JV level but is also planned to be a varsity sport come next spring.
The ECC, as a whole, has decided that fencing is ready to become a full fledged sport as it has met the minimum requirement, four schools or more now offer it as a varsity sport. The inaugural league season begins this winter.
There are some things about growth that people may not find attractive, this is one of the more positive things that can emerge from it. More young people given more opportunities to find their niche.

Kerrianne Dugan did what she does best Monday night.
Dugan was flying around the floor, diving for loose balls and mixing it up inside and this was just an all-star game in North Branford.
It didn't mean anything, the outcome was not all that important but that's how Kerrianne Dugan plays basketball and she might continue playing basketball beyond high school.
Dugan, a senior at Waterford High School, has told me that she has been contacted by a couple of Division I schools although she was reluctant to identify them. But if that is the case, she is well deserving.
Waterford coach Rob Von Achen has always said that Dugan is the "toughest" player he has ever coached and she always brings everything to the court.
Dugan scored 13 points in the Connecticut High School Coaches Association All-Star Festival Monday night. Her teammate, Jodie Plikus, was there too and also stayed true to her trademark as she scored the game winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.
It's the boys turn tonight to represent their school on the basketball court for a final time as the CHSCA Boys All-Star Festival gets underway at 6:15 p.m. at Maloney High School in Meriden.

It was one of those games that if you were a Waterford High fan, you had to be concerned from the opening tip.
Unlike the girls Class L state championship game the week before where even Coach Rob Von Achen thought his was the better team that was beaten by a Joel Barlow team that played a better game, the boys Class M state championship was pretty obvious.
The Lancers, as expected, truly had no answer for the dynamic inside duo of 6-foot-9-inch center John Galvin and 6-4 Thomas Montelli who combined to grab 24 of the Weston Trojans 46 rebounds.
Weston coach Billy Lovett praised Galvin somewhat afterward as he said the senior center was the one who got all the press but one couldn't forget the contributions of Montelli and the Trojans' three guards.
True, but it was Galvin and Montelli who also got all the offensive putbacks when the guards misfired and that happened often, especially in the first half.
While I would hesitate to give the guards tons of credit offensively for Weston's win on Sunday, I would have to agree their defensive effort was outstanding. They shut down Waterford's best player, Anthony Malhoit. And when Trevor Hendry got a little hot with so much attention being paid to Malhoit, they shifted into a triangle and two and Mark Shaw made life difficult on Hendry and Waterford as a whole.
While no one wants to go home in second place from a state championship, Waterford has to know that Weston was just a little too good this season and, instead, be more than happy that they were the Cinderellas at the dance.

Just wondering, can you believe the high school baseball season starts in two weeks?
Looking outside, neither can I.
Just another day of anticipation for the Waterford High School Lancers boys basketball team as the Class M state championship game with Weston was postponed today and moved to Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Central Connecticut State University.
The Lancers know about 6-foot-9-inch John Galvin, they know about 6-4 Thomas Montelli and everyone is telling them that they are the underdog. The Trojans have been winning big, with the exception of their close encounter with Sacred Heart in the semifinals, the Lancers have been just getting by. But the Lancers have found a way to win, using the style of their opponents against them at times, and that may be necessary again tomorrow.
Waterford coach Mark Capasso is probably going to try and double down on Galvin and hope that Montelli along the baseline and the three guards outside don't kill 'em. As Stonington coach Mike Reyes said about Weston, "pick your poison".
Reyes did add one thing, however, had it not been for a tough stretch at the end of the first half and one at the beginning of the second, his Bears might have given Weston a much closer game than the 80-42 final.
See you at Central on Sunday.

It was the agony of defeat and the thrill of victory Tuesday night in New Haven.
The Bolton-Coventry-Lyman boys hockey team did not have a successful experience at Yale University as they lost a Division III semifinal to New Milford 8-2 but just about five minutes down the road, Waterford's boys basketball team was jumping for joy as they beat Joel Barlow High School in a Class M basketball semifinal that featured just about as much scoring as the hockey game, Waterford winning 34-33.
Even though you do try to remain somewhat neutral as a sportswriter, you can get caught up in the emotion that is surrounding a team like Waterford right now. Face it, the Lancers are on a Cinderella run, no one, not even themselves, expected to be here but the stars were aligned just right and Lady Luck has shown her light on them a bit as well as all the hard work they've put in. Tuesday's game may have been a yawner on the court but it had to be one of the fastest games of the year as it ended in just over an hour.
The next task for Waterford- a state title game Saturday morning at CCSU in New Britain.
Didn't we just write that some place?
The B-C-L boys didn't have as happy a finish but the Whalers might get the consolation prize- experience.
B-C-L didn't have a senior on the team but still made it to the final four in Division III hockey, one can only hope that they make it back again next season.
New Milford was just too darn good in this one, the Division II school by enrollment numbers, scored three times in the first period and, in hockey, that's more than hard to overcome.
Three more goals in the second period by the Green Wave closed the books on the Whalers season but for this team there is always next year.

Its been a Waterford kind of weekend so far.
The boys basketball team did the town proud by making it to the Class M semifinals Friday night and now the girls basketball team goes for a Class L state championship today- pretty impressive.
The Lancers boys are not one of the teams I would have picked to go this far but several things have happened in their favor. Having played a tough Class L and LL schedule all season long, Class M teams may not seem to be as tough as they may be. The Lancers are used to playing against guards like R.J.Evans and Michael Jensen, so John Carlson of Old Saybrook was nothing new to them.
The Lancers were something different to the Rams, however, who play a primarily small school schedule. Carlson said he hadn't played against athletes like Anthony Malhoit who had a great vertical leap and long arms which disrupts passing lanes.
The Rams hung tough, especially with their third quarter comeback, but you had to like Waterford pulling it out in the end courtesy of a 3-pointer by Pat Epps.
Their reward, a semifinal game against a team called Joel Barlow. Now does that sound familiar or what!
See you at the championship game this morning.

They were victims of their own success.
Neal Curland's own words and I can see his point. His Norwich Free Academy Wildcats went into the state tournament undefeated and had run their winning streak to 24 games.
Unfortunately, that puts a huge bullseye on your back and can become a huge burden to bear. Whether or not it played a role in their 72-50 loss to Danbury Wednesday night is debatable but it certainly didn't hurt Danbury's motivation.
They did what no other team before them had been able to do, frustrate NFA's fine pair of guards, Garvin McAlister and R.J. Evans. And, unlike in the previous 24 games, there was just no one there to bail them out.
Curland couldn't explain it, McAlister couldn't explain it, NFA just had an off night and as it grew so did Danbury's confidence. Such is the nature of high school basketball.
The Wildcats season is over but it won't be forgotten as they did establish four new school records including becoming the first to ever finish the regular season undefeated in school history.
It may hurt now but it look mighty good down the road- somewhere.
Check out today's Norwich Bulletin and Bulletin online for a little more on this NFA topic as well as a preview of tonight's Waterford-Old Saybrook Class M Quarterfinal and the New England gymnastics competition which takes place tomorrow.

The last words before Rob Von Achen sent his Waterford Lancer team out on the court to play Darien in the Class L girls basketball state semifinals Wednesday night- "Have fun"
"Sometimes 16-year-old kids get caught up in the moment and they forget that this is a special time," Von Achen said.
"I want them to have fun, they have to fun or else it's no good- they have to have to fun," he added.
Von Achen had a little himself Wednesday night, a comfortable 19-7 first quarter lead can do that for a coach.
During a few of his time outs, he told them that this was a "rest break", complimented them on their play and voiced an instruction or two.
Late in the game, he strolled down the bench, looked up to Athletic Director Dave Sousa and asked him to fast forward the clock.
Von Achen also complimented Darien coach LeVonte Palmer for his praise of Waterford player Karli Spera when she fouled out. Von Achen returned the favor by walking over and praising a Darien player for her work on the court when she got her fifth foul.
Now comes the fun part for the Lancers, a date with Joel Barlow in the Class L State Championship game on Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
Talking with the players, you get the idea that they're ready especially after losing to Hillhouse in the championship tilt in 2005.

Everybody has a role.
That's what Norwich Free Academy senior center Jon Merjuste told me after the Wildcats win over Cheshire Monday night in a first round Class LL state tournament game.
R.J. Evans has to score, Garvin McAlister has to distribute, Mike Mailhot has to hit from the outside and both Kevin Donovan and Kyle Onate must rebound inside and get those putbacks.
Merjuste's role, besides coming off the bench and providing interior help, is the emotional leadership of the team. Check out who is in the middle of the huddle just before the game begins or who gets the team fired up prior to their entrance on the court.
It's one of the reasons why the Wildcats have won 24 straight games going into their second round match up with Danbury tonight at home. And speaking of tonight's game, it will be the last home game for players like Merjuste.
"That's a toughie," Merjuste said when I reminded him of that, "last home game, it's crazy. It goes by quick, life is fast and you have to live every moment."
Good words to plan anyone's day by.
The Waterford Lancers girls also have a big game tonight as they play Darien in a Class L state tournament semifinal game at 6 p.m. down in Wallingford.

It was a breath of fresh air when it comes to athletics.
An event so rare that you wanted to capture it and say, this is how it should be but, at the same time, realize just how difficult it was because both are competitors.
Two best friends, battling it out for a title, yet both rooting the other on to beat each other.
Both with a dream.
Killingly senior Kasey Fillmore had wanted to win an individual Eastern Connecticut Conference, state championship, State Open championship and New England championship all in the same season. Fellow Killingly senior Justine Basley had just wanted to win a title, any title and this was her next to last chance to do so.
Basley saw the opportunity on Saturday and jumped on it, with the eye of the tiger in her mind but with the eye on her best friend in her heart.
Basley winced when Fillmore fell from the beam doing a trick she has performed flawlessly hundreds of times, she also saw Fillmore's 9.2 and her 9.7 as the opportunity she needed to finally surpass Fillmore.
She seized the moment and hit a 9.65 in her final routine on the floor, less than Fillmore's 9.7, but a number that gave her a final total two-one hundreths better than her best friend.
The best thing about Saturday's State Open was that both Justine Basley and Kasey Fillmore walked away as best friends to compete against one another this Saturday.
Sports, folks, at it's best.

Are they surprised?
Heck yeah.
Are they impressed with themselves?
Heck no.
The NFA Wildcats have kept their heads about them through this wonderful ride of a season thus far. They've won 22 straight games, they also realize they truly haven't won anything too big- yet.
The Wildcats have won the ECC Large Division regular season crown, Friday they try to take the ECC tournament championship which won't be an easy task. On the opposing side will be New London, on their home floor, and the two teams are playing for the second time in two weeks. A little revenge factor comes to mind after the Wildcats beat the Whalers on their home floor to close out the season.
NFA continues to be powered by the tandem of R.J. Evans and Garvin McAlister, the two scored 27 and 17 points respectively in the semifinals, but they're also starting to get a few more points inside. Kyle Onate contributed 13 in the semifinals and Kevin Donovan was one of the few players who impressed coach Neal Curland with his play.
Mike Mailhot's 3-point shooting has cooled off a bit and that might be a concern going into the state tournament as they need the shooting guard to do just that- shoot. Curland was also a bit concerned by his team's defensive effort or what he perceived to be a lack of effort as the Wildcats let St. Bernard back into the game, briefly, in the second quarter.
The Whalers can give the Wildcats trouble especially with six-foot-eight Allan Chaney in the lineup and a lot of quickness in the back court. Where the Whalers look to be most vulnerable is in the experience department.
The Eastern Connecticut Conference final is set for 7 p.m. tomorrow night in New London- we'll see you there.