By Dave Stewart
MaxPreps.com
The Trinity Catholic and Kolbe Cathedral girls’ basketball teams have been the toast of their conferences in the winter of 2007-08. Over the past five days, they’ve left little doubt that the hype and respect they’ve received have been well-deserved.
The Trinity Catholic Crusaders captured their third consecutive FCIAC championship with a resounding 66-47 victory over the Westhill Vikings last Thursday at Fairfield-Ludlowe High School. The win gave Trinity a 22-1 season record and 63 straight victories over conference opponents.
Two days later at Weston High School, the Kolbe Cougars won the SWC title by beating Lauralton Hall, 70-57, in the conference final. That victory made the top-seeded Cougars league champs for the first time since 2005, extended their winning streak to 18 games and improved their season record to 20-2.
Both Trinity and Kolbe are No. 2 seeds in the State class tournaments — Trinity in Class LL and Kolbe in Class L.
The title game matchup between Kolbe and No. 2 Lauralton Hall was much-anticipated, as Lauralton (21-2) came in with just one loss — to Kolbe, 73-61, back on Dec. 21.
But the Cougars controlled the game from the opening tip and owned a 20-9 lead after the first quarter and a 23-9 lead early in the second as they finished off a 10-0 run. The lead was 42-25 at halftime and Lauralton was unable to challenge the lead in the second half.
Kolbe’s junior guard, Kamiya Burwell, was named the tournament MVP after scoring a game-best 22 points and hitting nine of 10 free throws in the final. Junior guard Ashley Prim also hit for double digits with 12 points, while sophomore guard Imani Garcia scored nine, junior guard Ryann Simmons had eight and junior forward Brianna Barnes had seven.
For Lauralton Hall, junior Molly Yardley scored 20 points and sophomore Keylantra Langley scored 11.
In the FCIAC championship game, Westhill gave Trinity a run in the first half, but the Crusaders’ went up 30-20 at halftime and then rolled to a 19-points victory, 66-47.
While the win marked a Trinity three-peat at the top of the FCIAC, it was a bitter defeat for the No. 3 seed Westhill Vikings (18-5), who finished in the conference runner-up position for the fourth consecutive year.
Trinity star Da’Shena Stevens, a senior center, had a huge game with 27 points and 12 rebounds, Kristina Paolino scored 16 points, and Danielle Perrault made it three Crusaders in double figures with 10 points.
The Vikings’ sophomore center, Ginny LaFauci, led her team with 17 points, while the one-two senior punch of Jess Williams and Julie Becker combined for 28 points — Williams with 16 and Becker with 12.
Boys Basketball: Trinity, St. Joe's, Greenwich and Harding Move On
While the Trinity girls were busy winning their league title, the top-seeded Crusader boys rolled during the second half of their FCIAC quarterfinal game and defeated the No. 8 Danbury Hatters, 61-37, Saturday at Fairfield-Warde.
The Hatters (12-9) trailed by only two, 24-22, at halftime, but managed just 15 points in the second half as the defense clamped down for Trinity (18-3).
Junior Tevin Baskin led the Crusaders with 17 points; senior John O’Leary had 13 points and nine rebounds, Dejan Korac netted 12 points and Ryan Adkins scored eight.
For the Hatters, senior forward Mike Escobar led with 14 points and junior guard Rocky Davis scored eight.
Trinity is seeking its seventh consecutive bid to the FCIAC final, and its first conference championship since 2005.
Speaking of championships, the third-seeded Bassick Lions had their shot at a second straight conference title end quickly as they were eliminated by city rival Harding, 70-69, in the quarterfinals.
The No. 6 Presidents (16-5), trailed 69-65 with just over a minute to play before junior guard Mike Davis nailed a 3-pointer with a 30 seconds remaining. Sophomore guard Laquan Mendenhall then intercepted a pass, and senior forward Cornelius Brown was fouled with 13 seconds to play. He hit both free throws to put Harding ahead by one, and Bassick missed its final shot at the basket.
For Harding, Brown scored a game-high 26 points and senior forward Johnny Stovall scored 14; Davis scored nine on three 3-pointers and junior Davon Pratt scored eight.
For the third-seeded Lions (16-5), senior guard William Gill led the way with 18 points and senior forward Andre Pettway scored 13.
The Bridgeport Central Hilltoppers punched their ticket to the FCIAC tournament with a dramatic 71-70 victory over the St. Joseph Cadets in the regular-season finale last Wednesday. But the No. 7 Toppers were unable to pull off back-to-back upsets as the No. 2 Cadets escaped with a 62-58 win in the quarterfinals.
The playoff contest was not without its own drama, however, as St. Joe’s led 16-7 after the first quarter only to have Central come back to tie the game 30-30 at halftime.
After the Cadets built a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Toppers made another run and got back to within a point at 59-58 with 12 seconds on the clock. A free throw by sophomore Greg Langston put the Cadets up by two and gave Central a shot, but a turnover gave the ball back to St. Joe’s and senior point guard Nick Gerrity sealed the deal with two free throws.
Gerrity led St. Joe’s (17-4) with 21 points; senior Rob Harrigan scored 19, Langston scored 10 and junior guard Kyle Walker scored eight.
For Central (12-9), senior guard Calvin Carter scored 21 points, senior forward Omari Howard had 17 and sophomore guard Christian Gill had eight.
New Canaan had beaten Greenwich twice during the regular season, but the third time was the charm for the Cardinals, who slipped away with a 58-49 victory in the 4 vs. 5 quarterfinal game.
The No. 4 Rams (17-4) led by 11 late in the first half, but No. 5 Greenwich (16-5) stormed back with a 21-4 run to get back into the game and take the lead. An eight-point rally in the fourth quarter put Greenwich ahead for good.
Senior Russ Rosenband led Greenwich with 18 points, including three-3-pointers, while senior guard Sean Massi and junior forward Chris Valentine had 11 points apiece. Junior point guard Jon Herzog scored nine points on three 3-pointers.
For the Rams, senior guard Will Hanley netted 16 points, junior center Joe Sindelar scored nine, junior guard Jamie Pares had six and senior guard Kevin Reilly had six.
The FCIAC semifinals will be played Tuesday at Fairfield-Warde High, with Harding and St. Joseph tipping off at 6:30 p.m., and Greenwich-Trinity to follow. The championship game will be played at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 29, at Warde.
Boys Basketball: Top Seeds Triumph in SWC Quarters
Over in the SWC, the top four seeds — Kolbe Cathedral, Notre Dame-Fairfield, Stratford and Bunnell — all advanced with boys quarterfinal round victories Saturday at Masuk High in Monroe.
Number 1 Kolbe (16-5) earned a rematch with No. 4 Bunnell (14-7) with its win on Saturday. Bunnell defeated Kolbe, 66-65, just a week before the SWC tournament began. The two teams will play in Tuesday’s semifinals at Weston High, with the other game pitting No. 2 Notre Dame-Fairfield (17-4) against No. 3 Stratford (15-6).
Kolbe received a battle from No. 8 New Milford in the quarterfinals. The teams were tied, 21-21, at halftime and the Cougars trailed by 37-36 after three quarters before pulling away to win, 58-49.
The Cougars’ senior center, Andrae Beckford, led the scoring with 29 points and a dozen rebounds, while junior guard Dominique Langston scored 14. Junior forward Shane Edmund had 14 for New Milford (12-9), with senior guard Xavier O’Rourke adding 12.
Kolbe’s semifinal opponent Bunnell was also in a tight game with Masuk before pulling away in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs led 38-36 after three and went on to win, 54-45.
Three Bulldogs scored in double figures, with junior center Terrell Coward and junior guard Mark Harrison collecting 14 apiece and Chris Rosario netting 12. For Masuk (14-7), senior guard Steve Zazuri scored 14 and sophomore guard Scott Corcitard scored 12. Zazuri, a Sacred Heaert University recruit, was coming off regular-season games of 37 and 49 points.
Notre Dame’s junior guard, Greg Desantis, racked up 35 points as the No. 2 Lancers downed No. 7 Pomperaug, 68-64. Senior forward Matt Maya added 12 and senior guard Alex Muniz had 10 for the Lancers.
Junior forward Dorlen Banks had 21 to lead Pomperaug (12-9), which also received 14 points from senior guard Chris Comeau and 12 from junior forward Eric Wingen.
Stratford topped Newtown, 52-44, behind 19 points from senior center Robert Dupree. Senior guard Tim Martin and Kolin Ebron had eight apiece for the No. 3 seeded Red Devils. Newtown (15-6) had a game-high 24 points from senior guard Kevin Troy.
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
