By Dave StewartMaxPreps.com STAMFORD, Conn. – The Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference postseason schedule designates Friday, Feb. 20, as the beginning of the conference girls basketball tournament. But for the three-time defending champion Trinity Catholic Crusaders, the playoffs began three days early.
In a win or go home regular season finale, the Crusaders edged out the Staples Wreckers, 48-46, at Trinity Catholic High School in Stamford, and secured a berth in the conference final.
The contest created a logjam in the standings, as three teams finished with conference records of 13-5 and four more finished at 12-6. The odd team out was Staples, which remarkably tumbled from No. 3 to No. 9 and missed the tournament.
Trinity, which would have been out with a loss, earned the No. 6 seed.
Friday’s FCIAC quarterfinals will feature No. 7 Trumbull at No. 2 Stamford at 5 p.m., and No. 8 St. Joseph at No. 1 Fairfield-Warde, No. 6 Trinity at No. 3 New Canaan, and No. 5 Danbury at No. 4 Ridgefield at 7 p.m. The semifinals will be held next Tuesday and the final on Thursday, all at Fairfield-Ludlowe.
Trinity is playoff-ready after winning its tight battle with Staples. The Crusaders led 27-22 at halftime after senior tri-captain Jeanna Trimboli hit a 50-footer for three points to end the first half. Staples closed the deficit to 35-33 after the third quarter, and the Wreckers held a 41-38 lead with under five minutes to play.
Trimboli hit another 3-pointer — one of five treys for the senior — to tie the game at 41-41 and Trinity then pulled out the win at the free throw line.
Trimboli paced the Crusaders with 17 points, while Cayleigh Griffin and senior tri-captain Liz Roemmele scored nine.
No. 8 St. Joseph (14-6) at No. 1 Fairfield-Warde (20-0), 7 p.m.
While Trinity is the defending champion, the Fairfield-Warde Mustangs are the clear favorite to win the FCIAC championship this season. Head Coach David Danko’s Mustangs are 20-0 and have been, quite simply, dominating.
Led by senior point guard Daphne Elliott and senior forward Sabrina Siciliano, Warde has won its games by an average of more than 25 points, and just three opponents have lost by fewer than 15 — New Canaan lost by 12, Ridgefield by nine and St. Joseph by six.
The Cadets, who finished 14-6, will have their close 61-55 loss to Warde to hang their hats on when the teams square off in the quarterfinals, but beating the deep Mustangs will be difficult for anyone this postseason.
Elliott is Warde’s top scorer with a 20.1 points per game average, and she’s been deadly from 3-point territory with 46 treys. She’s also pulled down 7.2 rebounds per game, and leads the Mustangs in assists with 95 and steals with 90. Elliott will be playing for the University of Hartford and Jen Rizzotti next winter.
Siciliano, who has her ticket punched for Assumption women’s basketball next year, gives the Mustangs another huge weapon on offense and defense. The senior has averaged 18.2 points per game and leads the teams in rebounds with a 10.2 average and blocks with 48.
Warde has also received big seasons from senior guard Ally Schneider and senior forward Rachel Friedman.
No. 7 Trumbull (13-7) at No. 2 Stamford (15-3), 5 p.m.
It’s been a while since the two teams met back on opening night, Dec. 10, but the Golden Eagles will hope to channel some of the positive vibes from that game into this contest, as they knocked off the Knights 51-49 to begin the season. Stamford has since gone 15-2, and are 6-2 against the tournament field, with the only other loss coming to Warde earlier this week, 70-42.
Stamford features senior tri-captain Fiona O’Dwyer, who leads the team in points (25.2 ppg), rebounds (12.2 rpg), steals (42) and blocks (25). Senior tri-captain Lauren Beluk has also had a great season, scoring 9.5 points per game, while racking up 58 assists and 39 steals.
Trumbull is led by senior tri-captains Ali Bove, Tracy Hahn and Rajvi Jarvis.
No. 6 Trinity Catholic (12-8) at No. 3 New Canaan (15-5), 7 p.m.
After winning a combined 16 games over the past three seasons, the New Canaan Rams turned things around in a big way with a 15-5 record this winter. The Rams beat Trumbull 50-24 and Danbury 51-44 in the final week to move from the playoff bubble all the way up to the third seed.
New Canaan has done it with a solid senior class and the addition of stellar freshman point guard Sarah Mannelly. Mannelly has averaged 12.4 points, 6.1 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game, while also coming up with 40 steals and 10 blocks.
The Rams’ scoring leader is senior Kelly Warlich with a 14.3 average, and she’s also averaged four rebounds per game and has 29 steals. Senior Kristen Gutierrez has averaged 12.4 points per game and a team-best 5.3 rebounds per game, and senior captain Alex Lysenko has 5.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
No. 5 Danbury (14-6) at No. 4 Ridgefield (14-6), 7 p.m.
The Danbury Hatters and Ridgefield Tigers ripped it up in their regular season meeting, with Ridgefield eking out a 53-52 decision. That one point gave the Tigers the edge in the tiebreaker and thus they’ll be hosting Friday’s quarterfinal match-up.
Ridgefeld is led by senior co-captains Kristin Anda and Melanie Andrea, with senior Kelly Birch and sophomore Kathryn Cholko also delivering big seasons.
For Danbury, senior tri-captains Nicole Eanniello and Erin Boggan are the big guns — Eanniello from the outside and Boggan on the inside. Eanniello leads the scoring with a 17.3 per game average, while Boggan has averaged 15.6 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. Boggan also has 28 blocks and 47 steals.
Freshman forward Casey Smith is an emerging force with 7.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, while senior tri-captain Amanda Ghannam is another weapon, having averaged 7.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
Wrestling: Danbury continues FCIAC dominance
The annual Joe Sikorski FCIAC Wrestling Tournament wasn’t exactly a surprise party as the Danbury Hatters won seven of the 14 weight classes and captured their 23rd consecutive conference championship Saturday at New Canaan High School.
The Hatters collected 242.5 points to win the FCIAC titles by 36 over second place Fairfield-Warde. The Mustangs scored 206.5 points, with Stamford third with 140.5. Trumbull (115) and Brien McMahon (107) rounded out the top five.
The meet began on Friday night and by the time the finals rolled around late Saturday afternoon, the event had a Danbury vs. the world feel to it as the Hatters placed nine wrestlers in the championships of the 14 classes. Warde had six wrestlers in the finals, while Stamford placed five.
Dylan Brant got Danbury started on the right foot in the championship round, as he beat Stamford’s Joey Battinelli 7-4 in the 103-pound weight class.
Warde’s Evan Fraser toppled Danbury’s Brian Jennings at 112 pounds, in what was the most exciting match of the final. Fraser and Jennings were locked in a scoreless tie through three two-minute regulation periods and five 30-second overtimes until Fraser scored on an escape in the sixth period to win the championship, 1-0.
Danbury won the next two finals, as Charlie Costanzo rolled to a 12-1 win over Trumbull’s Ben Anderson at 119 pounds, and J.D. D’Amici won an 11-2 decision over Warde’s Ian McAllister at 125 pounds. Both Costanzo and D’Amici were repeat champions, as Costanzo has won three straight at 119, and D’Amici won at 112 last winter.
The first non-Danbury final came in the 130-pound weight class, where Warde’s Bobby Rigliano edged Stamford’s Jason Camacho, 10-6.
Warde and Stamford matched up again at 135 pounds, with Warde’s Curtis Watkins gaining a 6-1 victory over the Knights’ Alex Camacho.
The Westhill Vikings struck gold at 140 pounds when Zach Napolitano defeated Darien’s Matt Ligouri, 11-8. The loss was Ligouri’s first this season.
The next four weight classes were a parade of championships for the Danbury Hatters, beginning with Tucker Schaefer’s 13-1 win over McMahon’s Sean Fields at 145 pounds. Schaefer’s win was a three-peat, as he won at 130 two years ago and at 140 last year.
At 152, Damian Winters decisioned Wilton’s Gabe Queiros, 10-1, and at 160, John Smith defeated Staples’ Andrew Nederlof, 16-5.
Dylan Hancock won Danbury’s seventh championship, beating Stamford’s D’Mel Williams, 19-2, in the 171-pound final.
Henri Fatigate of Fairfield-Ludlowe was the 189-pound champion after beating Warde’s Alfonzo Sneed, 5-1.
At 215, Enzo Cardillo gave Warde its fourth champion of the day when he beat Stamford’s Mark Robinson, 5-2.
In the heavyweight match, McMahon’s Jeff Star knocked off defending champion Humphrey Swift, 5-2. Starr and Swift were scoreless through one period before Starr took a commanding 5-0 lead in the second frame.
Starr was named the meet’s Most Outstanding Wrestler and received the Brian Wilderman Award, named for the former FCIAC champion and New Canaan High School standout.
New Canaan High School hosted the event for the 33rd time, missing only the 1986 season since the championships moved to town in 1976.
Prior to 1976, the FCIAC champion was determined in various ways. The team with the best record was declared champion from 1967-71, and in 1972, a four-team playoff was held at Staples High School. Two teams — Staples and McMahon met for the 1973 crown, with Staples winning — and the four-team format was again used in ’74 and ’75.
In 1976, the first conference-wide tournament was used, with the urging of numerous FCIAC coaches, including then-NCHS coach Steve Rogowsky and athletic director Joe Sikorski, for whom the tournament is now named.
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
