FAIRFIELD, Conn. — The St. Joseph Cadets were looking to end a decade-long drought. The Bridgeport Central Hilltoppers were looking to make their mark in the school record books. And when the two teams met for the FCIAC championship, the Hilltoppers claimed a victory of historic proportions.
Senior center Andrew Victoria racked up 20 points and 15 rebounds and MVP Kris Colon added 12 points and three steals as Bridgeport Central defeated St. Joseph, 77-65, in front of a crowd of nearly 2,000 at Sacred Heart University’s Pitt Center on March 4.
The FCIAC title was the first in program history for Central, which is 24-1 this season. The Hilltoppers’ only loss is a forfeit to Staples after Central used an ineligible player on opening night. Central, which is ranked No. 1 in the State, has won 24 consecutive games.
St. Joseph, which was seeking its first FCIAC championship in 10 years, is 22-3, with two losses to Central and one to Trinity Catholic.
The Cadets led for much of the first half before Central ended on a 15-2 run for a 40-32 lead at halftime.
The Hilltoppers continued to rally in the third quarter and led by as much as 12 points before St. Joe’s came alive and closed to within five points at 54-49 heading into the fourth frame. Central, however, led the rest of the way and went on to win by 12.
Greg Langston led the Cadets with a game-best 23 points, including eight straight in the first quarter. Timajh Parker scored 19 and Oscar Assie had eight.
"I’m proud of the guys," Cadets head coach Vito Montelli told the Trumbull Times. "They did the best they could do. You don’t expect them to play a mistake-free game. I have no complaints about the effort."
For Central, Jerome Parkins added 14 points and 12 rebounds to the ledger, while Orayne Clark had 11.
The two teams could clash again, as each won its first two games in the State Class LL tournament.
No. 1 Bridgeport Central rolled to wins over No. 32 West Haven, 75-48, and No. 17 Torrington, 94-49, to reach the quarterfinal, while No. 2 St. Joseph beat No. 31 Glastonbury, 59-57, and No. 15 Crosby, 73-63.
In Monday’s quarterfinals at the New Haven Athletic Center, Central will face No. 8 New Britain (18-4) at 6 p.m., while No. 4 Sacred Heart (19-3) faces No. 12 Harding (17-5) at 7:45 p.m. On the other side of the bracket, St. Joseph will face No. 7 East Hartford (18-4) at East Haven at 7 p.m., while No. 3 Hillhouse (20-2) and No. 6 Windsor (18-4) square off at Southington at 7:30 p.m.
The semifinals will be played on March 17, with all the State girls and boys final scheduled for March 19 and 20 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville.
2. Stratford gives Newtown a Devil of a time in SWC final: Stratford’s basketball season ended a bit too early for the Red Devils’ tastes last winter.
After going undefeated during the regular season, Stratford was unceremoniously ousted in the quarterfinals of both the SWC and State Class L tournaments. This season, the Red Devils’ playoff opponents had no such luck.
After a second straight undefeated regular season, Stratford rolled to three straight victories and defeated the Newtown Nighthawks, 53-41, to win the SWC championship March 4 at Masuk High School in Monroe.
The SWC championship was the fourth for Stratford (25-0). The third-seeded Nighthawks (19-5) had a 15-point lead in the second half, but Stratford stormed back and closed the game with an 18-2 run.
Stratford’s Brandon Sherrod and Russell Payton were named co-MVPs of the tournament, as Sherrod had 23 points and 25 rebounds and Payton had 11 points. Jason Charles added nine points to the mix. For Newtown, Josh Engler led the way with 16 points, while Andy Lapple had 11.
Newtown’s season ended on a down note when the Nighthawks were knocked out of the State Class LL tournament in the first round. Seeded fifth, the Nighthawks fell to No. 28 Newington (11-10), by nine points, 57-48.
Stratford, on the other hand, continued its march toward a perfect season. The top-seeded Red Devils had a first round bye and then knocked off No. 17 Pomperaug, 63-41, and No. 9 Avon, 78-65, to reach the semifinals.
The Class L semis will be held on March 16 with Stratford facing No. 12 Wilbur Cross (17-6) and No. 2 New London (21-2) taking on No. 3 Bristol Eastern (20-2).
3. New Canaan freezes Ridgefield in FCIAC hockey final: The New Canaan Rams have been a common sight collecting the FCIAC championship trophy at Terry Conners Rink. With 16 league titles, the Rams are the conference leader by a wide margin. But for this year’s senior class, the story hadn’t ended with the championship plaque raised over the Rams’ heads. That is, until this year.
New Canaan scored five unanswered goals over the final two periods and rocked the Ridgefield Tigers, 6-1, last Saturday at Terry Conners Rink in Stamford, as the Rams claimed the FCIAC championship for the first time since 2005.
For the senior class, it was the perfect ending to their careers.
"This is what we’ve worked for all season," senior co-captain Kris Nugent told the New Canaan Advertiser. "In all the years I’ve been at the high school, we’ve come up short so many times and to go out winning it our senior year is just the perfect ending."
Game MVP honors were shared by Nugent and senior co-captain Sam Stanton, who scored a pair of short-handed goals 58 seconds apart in the third period.
Stanton, Nugent and senior Tim Robustelli each had a goal and an assist; David Crandall, Henry Corcoran and Andrew Leslie all scored; and Bo McGinniss and Henry Richardson had assists. Terry Guider scored the lone goal for Ridgefield, with an assist from Sean Kelly.
New Canaan outshot the Tigers in every period and had a 30-20 edge overall. Ridgefield goalie Nate Gliedman collected 24 saves, while New Canaan freshman Tim Nowacki made 19. The Rams broke out on top with 3:57 remaining in the first period, when a New Canaan rush beat the Tiger defense. During the melee in front of the Ridgefield net, McGinniss slid a pass over to Crandall on the left side and Crandall fired it home for a 1-0 lead.
Ridgefield tied it on a 2-on-1 breakaway 3:13 into the second. Kelly crossed a pass from the right circle to Guider on the left and Guider beat Nowacki inside the left post for the equalizer.
The deadlock was short-lived, however, as Robustelli took advantage of a Tiger miscue at 5:54. Ridgefield’s Aiden Scott was shadowed by Leslie and lost his stick in the defensive zone. Scott kicked the puck away from Leslie to the middle of the zone, where Robustelli scooped it up and scored inside the left pipe for a 2-1 lead.
Just 1:47 into the third, New Canaan made it 3-1 when Corcoran scored from the left circle. Ridgefield gained a power play when Thomas Krieger was sent to the penalty box on a roughing call, but it was the Rams who scored twice during the Tiger advantage.
The first short-handed goal came on a beautiful play by Nugent and Stanton. Both players swooped into the offensive zone on the left side and Stanton dumped it back to Nugent for a shot. The first shot was blocked, but Nugent then sent the puck to the right where Stanton, who had circled the goal and came around the right pipe, stuffed it home to make it a 4-1 game.
Just 58 seconds later, that pair was at it again and this time Nugent found the back of the net after Stanton came up with a steal for a 5-1 lead with 7:43 to play. The final goal came from Leslie, who skated through the gut of the defense and scored top shelf with 4:01 remaining.
Dave Stewart, the Sports Editor of the New Canaan (Conn.) Advertiser, is a MaxPreps.com writer and photographer. He may be reached at 203-966-9541 or at sports@ncadvertiser.com.