The CIAC season begins this Thursday with a lot of question marks considering the amount of defections the state has had of talented players to the prep school ranks. Minus previews so far, it's hard to have much in the way of opinions regarding teams and players. But one thing I do know is that Yale commit and someone the Stags tried very hard to acquire, Riley Fox of Conard, will be a strong candidate for the POY (assuming he doesn't get hurt). Also rumor has it that defending state #1 East Catholic is pretty loaded (even though they had at least one important defection) led by Quinnipiac commit Samson Reilly and therefore might be in line to claim top honors again when all is said and done in March. Locally the word is that Notre Dame-Fairfield might be stacked led by Nate Charlot, and the same might be said for Kolbe-Cathedral led by Najimi George. Other than that I don't have much to say. Let the games begin to find out some surprises (which is sure to happen) I guess. Hopefully some real stars identify themselves to kind of fill the void left by those who departed for greener pastures.
Besides Charlot, another talented player for ND-Fairfield appears to be 6’5” junior Parrish Edmond who just received his first scholarship offer from Sacred Heart.
The CIAC season begins this Thursday with a lot of question marks considering the amount of defections the state has had of talented players to the prep school ranks. Minus previews so far, it's hard to have much in the way of opinions regarding teams and players. But one thing I do know is that Yale commit and someone the Stags tried very hard to acquire, Riley Fox of Conard, will be a strong candidate for the POY (assuming he doesn't get hurt). Also rumor has it that defending state #1 East Catholic is pretty loaded (even though they had at least one important defection) led by Quinnipiac commit Samson Reilly and therefore might be in line to claim top honors again when all is said and done in March. Locally the word is that Notre Dame-Fairfield might be stacked led by Nate Charlot, and the same might be said for Kolbe-Cathedral led by Najimi George. Other than that I don't have much to say. Let the games begin to find out some surprises (which is sure to happen) I guess. Hopefully some real stars identify themselves to kind of fill the void left by those who departed for greener pastures.
Besides Charlot, another talented player for ND-Fairfield appears to be 6’5” junior Parrish Edmond who just received his first scholarship offer from Sacred Heart.
Well that's interesting. Actually though in watching ND three times this season the best player (IMO) that I have observed is not Edmond (and not Charlot either) but rather junior Kamryn Salters. But if the Hearts have offered I'm sure they know something I don't know. The Lancers have talent and should be in contention for both a league crown and perhaps the states as well, so maybe by then more will be known about Edmond and why the Pioneers are so interested in him.
Post by nashvillestag on Jan 27, 2024 10:05:28 GMT -5
Very sad news in the Bridgeport community this morning as it has been learned that longtime Bassick boys basketball coach Bernie Lofton suddenly passed away even after coaching a game a couple days previous. An important figure at the school for all his life after graduating from there in 1977, Bernie was a player on the team who then got an assistants job under Harrison Taylor in 1983 and preceded to work in that position for 30 years before he was given the head job in 2013. As a coach, although the last couple of years have not been good, the Lions had some great seasons, especially during the period approximately from 2015-2019 when they were annually one of the best teams in the state. But beyond coaching, he was heavily involved with kids in the city as a community organizer who really cared about the direction of all the young people he came in contact with. So in reality as far as the folks were concerned who he influenced both at the school and the city, he became a truly beloved man and hence a legend in the area. He will certainly be remembered for a very long time around here.
Last Edit: Jan 27, 2024 10:08:02 GMT -5 by nashvillestag
Post by nashvillestag on Feb 2, 2024 15:40:06 GMT -5
Saw a player last night who looks like he may be a recruited player at the D-1 level in the coming year. Junior guard Elijah Parker from Holy Cross Waterbury, about 6-3 in height, scored 39 points in a great game against Conard and Yale bound guard-forward Riley Fox (who scored 33 himself), and he looked good doing it because he was being guarded for a lot of the game by Fox, plus he was good at getting his teammates involved too. Conard won because they had a couple more good shooters, but it was a close contest for much of the night and well worth watching.
Post by nashvillestag on Feb 15, 2024 0:51:14 GMT -5
I happened to watch history in the making tonight (according to a Notre Dame-West Haven official) as sophomore Abdou Toure poured in 49 points to set the school scoring record in a hard-fought 11 point victory over Wilbur Cross. But aside from scoring all those points, the exciting part of the evening was HOW he did it with many different ways of getting on the scoreboard. Three or four 3-point shots, mid-range jumpers, layups, plus about 5 emphatic WAY up in the air slam dunks had the home crowd buzzing. And on top of that he probably made something like 10 out of 12 free throws. This kid has it all and in fact had some assists and quite a few rebounds too. My own opinion is that he will be first team All State at the end of the year, and since he has two more years to go (hopefully staying at ND and not leaving the CIAC), he will be a guy who is recruited by many D-1 schools including some from the power conferences. Right now ND continues to be #2 in the state behind East Catholic (who won a big game tonight against Northwest Catholic), and therefore I would say that the odds are those two schools could meet in the state final at Mohegan Sun in mid-March. I don't believe the Green Knights have ever won a state title which is certainly hard to believe considering some of the outstanding teams they have had over the years. That could change this season if Toure could approach a performance that is anything close to what he did tonight if indeed the two teams were to meet each other in the tournament.
Last Edit: Feb 21, 2024 17:30:31 GMT -5 by nashvillestag
Post by nashvillestag on Feb 21, 2024 0:35:57 GMT -5
It was a historic night for Yale bound Conard High School senior Riley Fox when his first 2 point basket of the game (on the way to 30) meant he had become just the 27th player ever in the long history of Connecticut boys basketball (CIAC) to hit the 2,000 mark for his career. Great kid who considered Fairfield before picking Yale (can't blame him for that), Riley finished the regular season by averaging over 31 points per game and most likely will be picked as the POY for the state when the awards come out at the end of the season. BTW clearly the second best player on their team is Aiden Fox, Riley's brother, who is only a sophomore. While he's not as good as Riley was at the same point of their respective careers, Aiden bears watching as he tries to continue his brother's legacy in the next two years.
Last Edit: Feb 21, 2024 9:29:50 GMT -5 by nashvillestag
Trumbull beats Staples in overtime for the FCIAC championship.
In the state tournament, Trumbull is a 3 seed in Division II, which gives them an opening round bye. Wednesday they face the winner of Monday’s Newington at Warde game. Staples is a 12 seed in Division I and their opening game is Thursday at #5 East Catholic.
And Notre Dame-Fairfield beat Kolbe for the SWC championship.
ND-Fairfield is the #4 seed in Division I and they host #13 Hillhouse on Thursday. Kolbe is the #3 seed in Division I and they’ll play #14 Wilbur Cross at the Cardinal Sheehan Center on Thursday.
Trumbull beats Staples in overtime for the FCIAC championship.
In the state tournament, Trumbull is a 3 seed in Division II, which gives them an opening round bye. Wednesday they face the winner of Monday’s Newington at Warde game. Staples is a 12 seed in Division I and their opening game is Thursday at #5 East Catholic.
And Notre Dame-Fairfield beat Kolbe for the SWC championship.
ND-Fairfield is the #4 seed in Division I and they host #13 Hillhouse on Thursday. Kolbe is the #3 seed in Division I and they’ll play #14 Wilbur Cross at the Cardinal Sheehan Center on Thursday.
I had a choice last night (unfortunately you can't be in two places at once) and decided on going to the ND-Kolbe match-up. First of all, congrats to the Trumbull Golden Eagles who if I'm correct have now won the FCIAC championship for the very first time in their history. As far as ND, they are stacked (relative to state competition this year), and at this time I think I would label them as one of the maybe 3-4 teams who could go all the way and be state champs in a couple of weeks. Anyway more on that in a day or so when I analyze the brackets.
Last Edit: Mar 1, 2024 9:45:34 GMT -5 by nashvillestag
Trumbull beats Staples in overtime for the FCIAC championship.
In the state tournament, Trumbull is a 3 seed in Division II, which gives them an opening round bye. Wednesday they face the winner of Monday’s Newington at Warde game. Staples is a 12 seed in Division I and their opening game is Thursday at #5 East Catholic.
And Notre Dame-Fairfield beat Kolbe for the SWC championship.
ND-Fairfield is the #4 seed in Division I and they host #13 Hillhouse on Thursday. Kolbe is the #3 seed in Division I and they’ll play #14 Wilbur Cross at the Cardinal Sheehan Center on Thursday.
I had a choice last night (unfortunately you can't be in two places at once) and decided on going to the ND-Kolbe match-up. First of all, congrats to the Trumbull Golden Eagles who if I'm correct have now won the FCIAC championship for the very first time in their history. As far as ND, they are stacked (relative to state competition this year), and at this time I think I would label them as one of the maybe 3-4 teams who could go all the way and be state champs in a couple of weeks. Anyway more on that in a day or so when I analyze the brackets.
Nash, Trumbull won back to back titles in the early 80s when Harold Jensen was there.
Nashville had mentioned earlier this year that no one has seen Tez or any of his videos in a long time. I was finally able to connect with him last week, he is doing well, busy with his job at NBC, and hasn't made it on to the board or to any Stags games this year. I passed along hellos from the group at Fairfield especially from JoeStag and Nashville, and he asked that I say hi to all on his behalf.
Tez told me he has changed his entire focus to high school sports and that he has a lot of good high school videos out there. For those interested in following him his Twitter handle is @eteztv .
I had a choice last night (unfortunately you can't be in two places at once) and decided on going to the ND-Kolbe match-up. First of all, congrats to the Trumbull Golden Eagles who if I'm correct have now won the FCIAC championship for the very first time in their history. As far as ND, they are stacked (relative to state competition this year), and at this time I think I would label them as one of the maybe 3-4 teams who could go all the way and be state champs in a couple of weeks. Anyway more on that in a day or so when I analyze the brackets.
Nash, Trumbull won back to back titles in the early 80s when Harold Jensen was there.
bobs, you are totally correct, and how could I forget considering I was friends at the time with the Trumbull head coach, the late Stan Suchenski as well as the coach of their main competition, Ray Barry of Norwalk. I think they went head to head for four straight years with both winning two times. Appreciate your remembering and pointing it out for my attention.
Last Edit: Mar 1, 2024 14:27:06 GMT -5 by nashvillestag
Post by nashvillestag on Mar 4, 2024 0:19:57 GMT -5
The CIAC tournament gets underway this week with FIVE different divisions (too many IMO) with the championship game in all 5 set to be played in two weeks at the Mohegan Sun. One thing I would say about the biggest school division (1) is that unlike recent previous years there are actually a few teams and not just one or two that could end up as champions when all is said and done. So I will say I have picked out 6 who could be there in the end including Notre Dame-West Haven, ND-Fairfield and East Catholic on one side of the bracket, and NW Catholic, Kolbe Cathedral and St. Bernard on the other side. My guess is whoever wins between the two ND squads before the finals would take out the other side which IMO will be Kolbe. And I would say that NDWH led by the best player in the state, sophomore Abdou Toure, will prevail.
Now concerning the next level down (D-2), quite frankly if Windsor doesn't end up winning I'd be surprised. They really should be in the top division but somehow politics got in the way of that happening. But since they have defeated one of the heavyweights from D-1 twice recently in East Catholic including in the CCC championship two days ago, they really are about as good as any other school in the state at this time. Maybe a couple of sleepers could be Hand of Madison and even our local school in Trumbull who just won the FCIAC title this past Thursday.
Finally, and I don't really have much knowledge of some of the bottom three division schools, but I think it's D-4 which has Cromwell coached by former Villanova great John Pinone who features a senior 6-4 guard named Victor Payne who has been putting up huge numbers for his team all season including 43 in a game I saw him play. But what should be a bit interesting to us Stag fans is I think we may have some interest in him. So with that in mind I hope he and his team do well and make a run to the title.
Last Edit: Mar 4, 2024 8:57:58 GMT -5 by nashvillestag
Don’t know that I’ve ever seen better execution at the high school level on a full court play with 2.1 seconds left on the clock than what 23 seed in Division III Maloney of Meriden did against 7 seed Stonington. This was after Stonington inbounds with 8.3 seconds left and hits a 3 to take the lead.