NFA leads Wilbur Cross, 11-9

Stephanie Long has scored four points to help give NFA an 11-9 lead over Wilbur Cross after on quarter of the Class LL girls basketball state semifinals at Central Connecticut State University.

Bacon Academy advances to Class M title game

It may have taken place on a larger stage, but the script changed little and that was bad news for Windham.
The Whippets – as they had on their home floor and as they had in Colchester in previous losses to Bacon – played well in the first half and actually held the lead going into the second half. But as it has in the previous two encounters, the third eight-minute dance proved to be the decisive one and it was dominated by the Bobcats.
As a result, Bacon advanced to its first Class M state championship game since 2001 with a 59-50 win at Central Connecticut State University Saturday over their Eastern Connecticut Conference rivals.
The top-seeded team in the M Division will now play third-seeded Berlin for the state championship at the Mohegan Sun Arena next weekend at a time to be determined. Berlin advanced with a 54-41 win over Ellington on Saturday.
"Our kids showed a lot of guts," Bacon coach Dave Shea said. "They showed that they have character and can come from behind, keep their spirit up and keep working hard."
The Bobcats trailed, 30-26, going into the second half but knew one important thing.
"The third quarter wins games," Bacon senior Brooke Bailey said.
The Bobcats (24-2) wasted little time tying the game up as Katie Mahoney followed up a McKenzie Hyde miss to make it a two-point game. After Dominique Demar blocked a Windham attempt on the other end, Hyde followed up her own missed shot to tie the game at 30.
The senior forward was held to three points in the first half, part of that due to the fact that she had picked up her second foul with 2 ½ minutes left in the first quarter.
"It was frustrating, but I just kept my head in the game and tried to stay composed on defense," Hyde said.
Since she failed to pick up her third infraction in the first half, Hyde was able to play more aggressively in the second and had another putback to complete a 9-0 Bacon run to open the second half.
Windham (20-6) did tie the game on a three-point play by Amie Toner (14 points, 14 rebounds), but Katie Mahoney hit five of the next seven points and Hyde - who finished with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds- followed that with six consecutive points to give Bacon the 46-37 lead going into the final quarter.
"We talked about that at halftime," Windham coach Ken Valliere said. "We had been in that position before- been ahead of them at halftime- but we had to go out and play a good 16 minutes and it was what, 20-7(in the third quarter); it’s an uphill battle from there."
Bacon also switched up the defenses as Shea elected to go man-to-man in the first half which produced a lot of open looks for sophomore guard Ali Risley. She took advantage of those to drop four 3-pointers on the Bobcats. Those looks went away in the second half when Bacon went back to its traditional 2-3 zone and extended it.
"It’s kind of funny to go into a zone after Risley was hitting all those shots, but we’re pretty good in that 2-3 zone and extend out to the wings really well," Shea said.
"My teammates were really good kicking it out in the first half, but in the second half they got out on me more- maybe, I should have moved around more," said Risley who finished with those 12 points as she didn’t score after the first quarter.
"They’re big across the baseline and (Shea’s) crazy to play man-to-man against us, I don’t know why he did that in the first half" Valliere said. "We penetrate the zone pretty good, but they swallow us up."
The Whippets had a run left in them late in the fourth quarter as Danyelle Rodriguez went baseline for two and, after two missed Bacon free throws, hit a 3-pointer with 51 seconds left to cut the deficit to four, 54-50. The Bobcats finished things from the free throw line where Mary Corrado and Bailey both sank a pair and Hyde added one with 22 seconds left to send the Bobcats into the championship game.
"I know the coaches know about them," Mahoney said when asked about Berlin. "Right now, I’m just so happy we won and we have a week to prepare."
"Berlin has a really tall girl (Katelyn Zarotney), she’s like Amie (Toner) on the boards," Hyde said. "I’ve played AAU with her and we just have to box her out."
Bacon has never won a state title game as it lost in 2001 to Plainville in the Class M final and fell to Westbrook in a Class S championship game in 1979.

Superintendents nix football plan

The football committee of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) thought it was a good idea, as did a majority of football coaches. But as a proposal to expand the state high school football playoff format climbed the ladder, it ran into resistance.
The top rung of that ladder decided that it, as it stands now, will go no further.
CIAC Executive Director Michael Savage said on Wednesday that he had met with the executive board of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents last Thursday and the superintendents expressed reservations about the plan.
The idea, devised by a group within the CIAC football committee, called for an expansion of the high school football playoffs from 24 teams to 48 by adding a quarterfinal round that would take place the Thursday prior to Thanksgiving.
The committee decided that Thanksgiving Day football rivalries are sacred to many and that those games should continue in the midst of the new playoff system. The semifinals, as is the case now, would be held the Tuesday after the holiday and the championship games on the following Saturday.
According to Savage, the Superintendents took exception to the plan based on three issues:
— The physical toll on high school players of playing four games in 16 days.
— The impact on Thanksgiving Day games
— Shortening the regular season for all to lengthen the playoff season for fewer teams
“The superintendents sent a letter to the Board of Control asking to postpone any decision on this matter until the superintendent’s concerns were addressed and that no action be taken until after the 2009 season,” Savage said.
The death knell of the plan is in the details, as the superintendents made it clear these issues would have to be dealt with without any discussion of extending the football season, according to Savage.
“Everyone, including the superintendents familiar with the situation, is pleased that the football committee discussed the extension of tournament play for the last 18-24 months and commend them for their work,” Savage said. “If there are ways to address these concerns without extending the season, everyone is open to listen to those recommendations.”
Supporters of the plan such as Ledyard High School coach and football committee member Jim Buonocore felt the new system was the way to go.
“I felt we had a viable plan that met the needs of the coaches and the powers that be,” Buonocore said. “I was satisfied with the effort that we made, disappointed that we didn’t get a full vote, but I support and respect the decision of the superintendents.”
The CIAC Board of Control meets on March 19 and will likely follow the superintendents’ recommendations and table the proposal. Savage said in his 30 years with the CIAC, he has never seen the Board of Control not follow the superintendents’ advice.
“It’s a dilemma to get more games in and deal with issues concerning the safety of the kids. Four games in 16 days is significant,” Windham High principal and Board of Control member Gene Blain said. “It’s a concern and I think we need to have some medical opinion on that before moving forward.”
Savage said the proposal had the “overwhelming support” of coaches. Athletic directors were less enthusiastic, but still “reasonably supportive.” As you went up the ladder, however, principals and superintendents were much less enthusiastic.
“You try to get as much feedback as possible,” Blain said. “This was precedent setting and you need to have everybody on board. Everything had to be perfect for it to happen (this fall); that wasn’t likely.”
Savage said one alternative to the plan could be increasing the number of divisions from six to as many as 10. That could give more opportunities to more teams, but Blain said he felt coaches may feel more divisions would dilute the field too much.
Cochran to be discussed
One issue the Board of Control will take up on March 19 is that of former New London baseball and current football coach Jack Cochran.
Cochran resigned last Friday before he even coached a baseball game after the school self-reported to the CIAC that it had evidence of a minimum of three rule violations regarding offseason practice for the baseball team.
Cochran said Friday that resigned so the kids on the team will not be punished for his actions, which included facilitating the use of the gym for baseball practice by players and parents.
Savage said the Board of Control has the “authority to do whatever it wishes” as far as Cochran is concerned, including taking disciplinary actions. That discipline could include fines or sanctions such as suspension or probation against the school, coaches and players.
New London was fined by the CIAC this past fall after Cochran allowed eighth graders into preseason practice with the high school varsity football team.

St. Bernard squeaks by Ellis Tech

Joey Cyr may play for the St. Bernard boys basketball team, but he probably has more in common with the team his Saints met Monday in the first round of the Class M tournament.
Cyr lives just about five miles from Ellis Tech in Danielson and grew up playing basketball with some of the Eagles players.
It added just a little more fuel to Cyr’s fire, not that he needed much more in the way of motivation. After all, this was a state tournament game and the St. Bernard senior knew it would be his last in a Saints uniform if they lost.
He helped make sure that didn’t happen, netting 18 points to help St. Bernard (14-8) slip by the upset-minded Eagles, 46-45, and into the next round.
“(Ellis Tech junior) Sean (Haythe) was on my team for three or four years in rec. league, so it was fun to play him,” Cyr said. “Beating Killingly before and then beating Ellis twice this year, it’s definitely bragging rights in northeastern Connecticut.”
Cyr put the Eagles behind in the first half after he outscored their team, 13-8, in the second quarter. Ellis Tech had sliced an early seven-point deficit to just two at the beginning of the second quarter when Andre Curiel (10 points, seven rebounds) hit a free throw, the only St. Bernard point in the quarter that was not scored by Cyr.
After Ellis Tech missed five consecutive shots, Cyr laid down the first of two 3-pointers within 25 seconds of one another. A free throw by Joe Guilmette for the Eagles did little to cool Cyr’s fire as he followed with a traditional three-point play and then added four more free throws to push the Saints’ lead to 24-14 at the half.
“Wow, I didn’t notice that,” St. Bernard coach Tim Payne said with a laugh about Cyr’s second-quarter barrage. “Did I take him out?”
Ellis Tech coach Dan Piccione, meanwhile, couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His Eagles made just 5-of-28 shots from the floor in the first half and followed that with a 5-of-18 performance in the third quarter.
Lay-ups, 3-pointers, put-backs — nothing was falling, which led Piccione at one point to turn to his assistant coach, Josh Dinerman, and exclaim, “I give up.”
“(It was) really frustrating. It’s lucky that we were even in the game,” Piccione said. “When you can’t make a shot, it’s tough.”
But the Eagles still trailed by only nine entering the fourth quarter, and a pair of 3-pointers by brothers Jon and Josh Arraje brought Ellis back to life, closing the gap to three points. Three minutes later, Jaymie Cellucci’s only basket of the night cut it to one with 2:08 left.
“They’re a good team, they played hard,” Cyr said. “We kind of overlooked them a little when we got the lead and just started coasting.”
Cyr, who had been quiet since the second quarter with the exception of two free throws in the fourth, made three of four from the line. Dylan Delacruz added one from the charity stripe and Josh Bowyer sealed the deal with a pair with 12 seconds left to make it 46-42.
Jon Arraje (16 points) hit a 3-pointer with six seconds left to cut the deficit to one, but Ellis Tech (11-12) was out of time-outs.
“It’s a shame, but there was nothing we could do about it,” Jon Arraje said. “If it happens, it happens. Game’s over.”
The Eagles are still seeking the first state tournament victory in program history.
“We’re just going to have to wait, hopefully until next year,” Piccione said. “It seems like we’re cursed.”
The Saints get another Constitution State Conference team next as they travel to Danbury to take on that league’s champ, Abbott Tech, on Wednesday.

Cochran resigns as New London baseball coach

Jack Cochran was named baseball coach of the New London a couple of months ago, but he won’t get a chance to ever step foot in the dugout.
Cochran handed in his resignation to athletic director Bob Brackett Friday after Brackett told him that he had committed an offseason practice violation and the school was going to report the incident to the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference.
New London High principal Dan Sullivan said that he had received a report that Cochran had committed violations and asked Brackett to investigate.
“(Brackett) determined that on a minimum of three occasions, Jack had provided access to (the school’s) facilities during which time parents and students participated in hitting drills and other baseball-related activities,” Sullivan said.
Cochran admitted that he did open up the New London gym for the parents.
“I didn’t know (that it was a violation),” Cochran said. “I was trying to do something good for parents and kids who didn’t have the resources on their own. I wish it never happened.”
It’s the second time in three sports seasons that New London has had to self report a violation involving Cochran, he was also cited in the fall for allowing eighth grade students to participate in a New London football practice and the school was fined by the CIAC.
“I’m certainly concerned, I’m certainly disappointed and I’m sure that it’s something the (CIAC) Board of Control will look at seriously,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan said he didn’t know if this would affect Cochran’s status as football coach in the fall, saying it was “up to the Board of Control.” Cochran said he hoped his resignation as baseball coach was punishment enough and that he hadn’t even considered any ramifications when it came to football.
Cochran led the Whalers to a state championship this past fall and was named the Norwich Bulletin Coach of the Year.

New London claims ECC title

You don’t plan for moments like these, they just happen.
The clock was ticking down toward 10 seconds and the 1,500 gathered in the Waterford High School gym stood waiting for the inevitable.
The 10 players on the court will re-play those waning seconds over the years and remember what they did. They’ll think about what they could have done as the crowd rose in unison waiting for the inevitable New London time out.
New London’s Torin Childs-Harris stood 10 feet inside halfcourt with the ball, NFA’s Anthony Clarke was watching his every move with the Wildcats trying to protect a one-point lead. New London coach Craig Parker finally brought his hands together to signal for the time out with 10 seconds left and his focus fell on Childs-Harris.
The sophomore with the silky smooth touch was not about to disappoint his coach or the New London faithful as he caught the in-bounds pass, dribbled inside the 3-point line and lofted up a perfect 15-foot jump shot that found only net, the go-ahead basket that the Whalers needed with six seconds left that led to New London’s 51-48 win over NFA in the Eastern Connecticut Conference boys basketball championship game Friday night.
“We made the decision, if they were going to sit back off of us, we were going to hold the ball until 10 seconds to go and put it all on the line,” Parker said.
NFA coach Neal Curland felt like he had no choice but to go with the flow.
“We were happy with that,” Curland said. “We weren’t going to try and chase them and foul them because we had the lead. If you go out and guard them tight and try to get a five-second call, they’re going by you because they’re quicker than we are.”
Parker decided that Childs-Harris had to be the man since his best outside shooter, Nick Singleton, was not with the team due to family issues.
“It was designed for me to shoot the 3, but no one came out,” Childs-Harris said. “I turned around too late to shoot the 3, so I thought if I drove to the middle and threw a floater that I would get it. I was waiting my whole life for a shot like that.”
Though the winning play wasn’t drawn up on the spot, it might as well have been.
“That play we had for the game-winner, ironically, we just put it in two or three days ago and that’s the first we’ve run it all year,” Parker said. “It could have been a 3-pointer had he been wide open but he made a good decision, made a move, pulled up with a kid in his face and made the tough shot.”
Curland could only compliment Childs-Harris afterwards.
“That was a big-time play — a great shot, off the dribble, guarded, 15-16 feet with a guy on him, leaning a little bit.”
The game wasn’t over yet. There were still 5.9 ticks of the clock left as NFA called for a time-out immediately after Harris made his shot. The time-out didn’t help as the Wildcats threw away the in-bounds pass and were forced to foul. Teaurean Nolan hit two free throws to give the Whalers a three-point lead. NFA’s Wes Murphy did get off a shot just before the buzzer just inside half court, but it bounced off the rim and harmlessly to the ground.
“It is (a little sweeter than a year ago) because of the circumstances (the missing players, which also included Lamont Singleton and center Sylvere Vanterpool),” Parker said. “For these kids to not to let that affect them and keep their focus on the game — this has a special meaning (Friday night).”.
For his efforts, Childs-Harris brought home the Tournament Most Valuable Player Award as he led the Whalers with 22 points. Freshman Kris Dunn added 13 to the New London (22-1) effort.
“It’s like a dream come true,” said Dunn, who was named to the All-Tournament team. “I didn’t think I was going to help win it, because I’m a freshman.”
Mike Mailhot led the Wildcats (19-4) with 13 points and Darryl Ferguson returned to the NFA lineup after being too ill to play in the semifinals to score 10 points, grab eight rebounds, block four shots and alter a host of others. Both Mailhot and Ferguson were named to the All-Tournament team along with Woodstock’s Kyle Senick.
“It took a great shot to beat us and that makes it harder for the kids and for me, too,” Curland said, “but I’ve coached in a lot of games and for them, this is their one chance, the seniors, so it’s really hard.”

Windham rolls on in Class M girls basketball

Windham High School was disappointed when it fell in the quarterfinal round of the Eastern Connecticut Conference girls basketball tournament.
What made that disappointment even more intolerable was what followed — a long lay-off without any games.
“We had nine days off and it’s not fun hanging around the gym with me for nine days after a tough loss,” Windham coach Ken Valliere said.
Plainfield felt Windham’s pent-up frustrations Tuesday as the fourth-seeded Whippets rolled on in the Class M state tournament with an 81-35 first-round win over the No. 29 Panthers.
“It felt so good to get back out and our team was really up-beat,” guard Ali Risley said. “Coach said we had to come in like any other game and put it away.”Risley, who scored a game-high 20 points, was part of the formula to accomplish that. The sophomore wasted no time in putting down a 3-pointer just 45 seconds into the game, and then followed that up with a fast-break basket off an Amie Toner block.
Plainfield did stop the run ever so briefly when freshman Heather Evans (six points, six rebounds) hit a 3-pointer, but the respite was short.
Toner sank two free throws and, after another Plainfield turnover, came another 3-pointer from Risley to raise Windham’s lead to 10-2 with just 2 1/2 minutes gone in the opening quarter.
“After the last few practices, I thought Ris was going to have a good tournament,” Valliere said. “She seems to be really focused, has been shooting the ball well in practice. We ran three plays right off the bat for her to shoot and she knocked down two out of three. She’s capable of that.”
Risley scored 10 first-quarter points, but she was far from alone. Toner, the lone senior starter for the Whippets, added six and both Carlee Smith and Haley Mather added four as the Whippets built its lead to 27-8 after the first quarter.
Plainfield coach Dave Wilcox did all he could to stop the tide as he just about exhausted his allotment of time-outs through the first eight minutes.
“We have to aspire to be them, but we also have to aspire to beat them,” Wilcox said of Windham. “Them and Bacon, and Stonington and Montville — it’s a different clientele next year.”
That was the kicker to the one-sided loss for the Panthers, who finished the season 9-13. They move up to the ECC Medium Division next season and will have to play the Whippets twice during the regular season.
“We definitely became a team (by) the end, and we all worked together, but this was a hard team,” Plainfield freshman point guard Kim Bouten said. Asked how much her team will have to improve to compete with Windham or Bacon next year, Bouten simply said, “A lot.”
Bouten paced the Panthers with nine points, Denise Vergato added eight while junior Kate Montgomery had seven rebounds.
Danyelle Rodriguez added 13 points for the Whippets (18-5) who left with only one concern. Toner pulled herself from the game in the third quarter with a stiff back. Valliere is hoping she will be ready for Thursday night’s second-round game against Rocky Hill.
“She has done so much in her life in basketball and this is her two weeks,” Valliere said of the senior, who will go on to play at Division-I Sacred Heart. “She should be taking no prisoners out there, laying it all on the line and dominating as best she can.”
Her teammates will have her back, stiff or not, in that pursuit.
“We want to go far especially for Amie,” Risley said. “It’s her last year. We want to do something for her.”

State tournament awaits for girls basketball teams

Win and move on, lose and go home.
That’s the cruel fate that awaits basketball teams once the state tournament gets underway, although that start had to be pushed back a day.
The snowstorm to start the month of March also served to push back the girls state tournament although it’s not as big a deal as it has been in the past. That’s because the girl’s state championship games have been pushed back a week to accommodate the schedule with the Mohegan Sun and there is time built into the schedule now.
The Class LL and Class M games that were scheduled for Monday simply got pushed back a day to tonight with six local teams playing, two against one another.
Fourth-seeded Windham plays at home in a Class M first-round game against No. 29 Plainfield.
“I just hate to play teams in our league because one of us has to be done and it doesn’t give (the ECC) the opportunity to move teams on, that’s the biggest thing,” Windham coach Ken Valliere said.
“We didn’t play them in the regular season, so it is someone different in that sense,” he added. “Hopefully, being laid off for nine days, we can get off on the right track and get some momentum.”
Valliere said to scrape some of the rust off, the Whippets did scrimmage E.O. Smith last Thursday.
“I think myself and the kids would be disappointed if we don’t go deep into the tournament, “ Valliere said. “But we have to take one game at a time and win one game, ugly or not, you have to move on. When we won the state championship four years ago, that’s what we said and this is no different.”
Whomever wins tonight will take on the winner of the Rocky Hill/Wolcott game in a second round contest. A win there produces a quarterfinal against either Morgan, Stonington, New Fairfield or East Hampton while the semifinal could bring the top seed, Bacon Academy.
“I think it looks good, hopefully we’ll have two home games and then it goes neutral,” Valliere said. “If Bacon is the best — we’ve played some very ball against them although they beat us twice — I think it’s wide open in the M.”
Also in the M Division and also in the upper bracket is a team that truly feels out of place. St Bernard coach Mike Nystrom doesn’t feel the rules — which automatically vault a Catholic school up a division or more — favor his team which played more of a Class S schedule for much of the season.
“There’s very few easy games in the Class M tournament whereas if you get lucky in Class S, you can go to the quarters or even the semis and not beat anyone,” Nystrom said.
The Saints drew the No. 8 seed in the tournament, good in some ways, bad in others.
The good is that they have a home game tonight against the 25th seeded Thunderbirds of North Branford.
“I saw them play (Feb. 21) and they’re on the small side,” Nystrom said. “They’re OK, they could beat us, but if we play well, we have a chance — if we shoot good.”
That’s something the Saints didn’t do against Bacon in the ECC semifinals when they lost, 47-27, and that’s the bad news. A win over North Branford means St. Bernard will host either Northwestern Regional or Watertown on Thursday, a win there gives them a likely rematch with the top-seeded Bobcats in the Class M quarterfinals.
Speaking of the Bobcats, they will have the target on their backs being the top-seed.
“That doesn’t really mean anything now,” said Bacon sophomore guard Katie Mahoney. “We have to still keep winning and improving.”
Both Mahoney and her coach and grandfather, Dave Shea, believed that a 60-53 loss to NFA in the ECC Championship game Friday night could only pay dividends come the state tournament.
“This got us ready for the state tournament — we had three games — and if we hadn’t won the first game, we would have had almost a two-week layoff before the states,” Shea said, “so it’s a great way to get ready.”
The Bobcats get a bye tonight and will host the winner of the Suffield-Lewis Mills game on Thursday. Shea was happy for the bye as it will give him a chance to travel to Burlington to check out Thursday’s opponent.
“I’m looking forward to winning on Thursday, it’s one game at a time, I don’t want to look any further than that,” Shea said.
Only one other team has a home game tonight in Class M as No. 14 Montville will host No. 19 Jonathan Law. Stonington, seeded 28th, goes on the road to Morgan and No. 22 New London plays at Hartford Classical.
Fitch is the only local Class LL team in action as the Falcons, seeded 21st, play at No. 12 St. Joseph’s.
The only other local team in LL, Norwich Free Academy, has to consider themselves fortunate. The Wildcats have the No. 1 seed and, in this case, that’s extremely important as the majority of the division’s heavy hitters are on the other side of the bracket. Career Magnet, Lauralton Hall, New Britain, Mercy and Holy Cross are in the lower portion of Class LL and NFA coach Bill Scarlata liked the bracket when he first saw it.
“I did and then I thought it was going to be really good because I thought Wilbur Cross was going to be on that side, but they snuck on our side, they’re a tough team,” Scarlata said. “You never know, I saw Southington play and they have a pretty good point guard and are taller than us; Cheshire beat us three years ago with the same team and they’re huge and I haven’t seen Stamford.”
Scarlata wasn’t happy about one thing, he’s going to have to drive to Westport tonight to watch the Staples/Manchester game.
The Class L and Class S teams have to wait until Wednesday to get back on the floor.
It has been a long wait for East Lyme which lost in the quarterfinals of the ECC tournament back on Feb. 21 and get to host No. 25 Notre Dame- Fairfield Wednesday night.
But for East Lyme to advance, it will have to play the role of giant killer again. The Vikes knocked off top-seed Wethersfield last year in a second-round game, they’re going to have to do the same this year if they win on Wednesday and again on Friday. That means a quarterfinal game with this year’s top seed, Fairfield-Warde.
Waterford goes on the road Wednesday night as the No. 21 seed meets No. 12 Northwest Catholic in West Hartford.
“They’re older, they’re faster, they’re quicker and we’re going to have to slow the game down a lot,” Waterford coach Rob Von Achen said.
Only two Class S teams get to host a game as Putnam is home to Portland on Wednesday and Parish Hill plays Shepaug Valley in Chaplin. Lyman, Windham Tech, Wheeler and Holy Family go on the road.