15 seed in Division IV, Weston, loses at the buzzer to 7 seed Weaver of Hartford in a quarterfinal round game. Weston got to this round by beating 2 seed Cromwell in a second round game.
CIAC Sports put this information out in a tweet. Cracks me up how they switch back and forth from the I through V designations and the LL through S designations. Also, don’t identify the MM Saturday 3:00pm game as a girls championship.
The #RuntoTheSun is complete. Weekend schedule below. #ctbb #ctgb Tickets available through Ticketmaster (4 different sessions - 2 Saturday, 2 Sunday). Link: am.ticketmaster.com/mohegan/CIAC
Saturday, March 16 (Session 1) 10:00 a.m. Class M Girls Windham vs. St. Paul 12:30 p.m. Div. III Boys Bunnell vs. Lewis Mills 3:00 p.m. Class MM Sheehan vs. Northwest Catholic
Saturday March 16 (Session 2) 6:15 p.m. Class L Girls Simsbury vs. Holy Cross 8:15 p.m. Div. II Boys West Haven vs. Windsor
Sunday, March 17 (Session 3) 10:00 a.m. Div. IV Boys Cheney Tech vs. Innovation 12:30 p.m. Class S Girls Somers vs. Thomaston 3:00 p.m. Div. V Boys Coventry vs. Old Lyme
Sunday, March 17 (Session 4) 6:15 p.m. Class LL Girls Hamden vs. Sacred Heart Acad. 8:15 p.m. Div. I Boys Notre Dame-WH vs. St. Bernard’s
5 divisions are indeed a joke, and the fact that only 17 schools play out of D-1 and that ALL of them qualify for the tournament no matter their regular season record further cements the stupidity of the people who decide to do it this way. Another joke is that somehow Windsor (boys) is playing and likely to win the D-ll championship when in fact they are right up there with any team in the state and therefore should be competing against the big boys in the top division. If they do indeed win this weekend, I hope they are not judged as the best team in the state when the final ratings come out for this very reason. Many other things I don't like about the CIAC (don't get me started about how hard it is to even get into a tournament game if you don't have an electronic device in your pocket), but for such a small state, common sense would suggest limiting the divisions to maybe 3 in the future I would think.
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.
Another season in the books. Notre Dame-West Haven goes undefeated and wins the D-1 championship over St. Bernard and Windsor wins D-11 as expected. ND will surely be #1 in the state when the final rankings come out with Windsor probably #2. One final note, and this comes from a local angle. Bunnell of Stratford wins the D-111 title for their second championship in school history, the first being back in 2015 when they were coached by our former player Pat Yerina. Anyway, congrats to all the champs (including those in the smaller divisions)! The overall talent in the state is not tremendous given the defections of the most talented players to the preps. BOTOH the competition overall was indeed tremendous and certainly rewarding to watch all year.
Last Edit: Mar 18, 2024 17:39:31 GMT -5 by nashvillestag
Not often that a sophomore is selected as the best player in the state.
While Toure is certainly the best player in the state from an athletic standpoint with future potential off the roof, the fact is if at least five other players who were in the CIAC last season hadn't left the association early for prep schools and stayed with their previous schools, Abdou wouldn't have won this award from Maxi-Preps this year. In fact as far as the odds are concerned (but something I have no direct knowledge of) I'd say it would be 50/50 at best that he would be back with NDWH next season, thereby opening up the award for someone else to win the same award at this point 12 months later. Anyway that said, he certainly is the deserving winner because he is indeed good at his craft. One other thing I would say though is that other awards will come out in the next couple of weeks, and when the official All-State teams and POY as selected by the state media come out, while Toure will obviously be on the first team, look for senior Riley Fox of Conard to beat him out for the top honor. The latter who just completed his career as the 16th highest scorer in state history and is going to Yale next year will probably get the nod over this kid even though in the future the ND kid has a much higher upside in the sport.
Well if they move the tournament up a week that means they would have to move the start of the CIAC season a week. That's not a bad thing considering HS ball around here usually starts later than just about any other state in the country.
Last Edit: Mar 29, 2024 9:15:00 GMT -5 by nashvillestag
They should play these games in Hartford or Bridgeport
If you've ever attended one of these final games at Mohegan you might think differently. At least in the largest couple of classes they always fill the lower bowl, and quite a few match-ups between powers over the past few years have threatened the 9,000 capacity (maybe 6-7,000). Same with the girls too (although they tend to combine a girls and a boys in a single session). But the atmosphere is usually electric plus I know of people who have purposely spent a night at the hotel so they could attend all the games over the two days that it is played. The CIAC is very happy how it has worked out there and quite frankly, unlike many decisions that organization has made in the past, the one to play at that location has turned out to be a rousing success.
Last Edit: Mar 29, 2024 17:35:08 GMT -5 by nashvillestag
Not often that a sophomore is selected as the best player in the state.
While Toure is certainly the best player in the state from an athletic standpoint with future potential off the roof, the fact is if at least five other players who were in the CIAC last season hadn't left the association early for prep schools and stayed with their previous schools, Abdou wouldn't have won this award from Maxi-Preps this year. In fact as far as the odds are concerned (but something I have no direct knowledge of) I'd say it would be 50/50 at best that he would be back with NDWH next season, thereby opening up the award for someone else to win the same award at this point 12 months later. Anyway that said, he certainly is the deserving winner because he is indeed good at his craft. One other thing I would say though is that other awards will come out in the next couple of weeks, and when the official All-State teams and POY as selected by the state media come out, while Toure will obviously be on the first team, look for senior Riley Fox of Conard to beat him out for the top honor. The latter who just completed his career as the 16th highest scorer in state history and is going to Yale next year will probably get the nod over this kid even though in the future the ND kid has a much higher upside in the sport.
The official All-State teams and POY have come out, and although just about everyone listed on the three teams are not much of a surprise to me, one thing I got wrong was that Toure was selected POY rather than Fox. My thought was the senior who was averaging quite a few more points than the sophomore would receive precedence even though the latter just by his ability is certainly the most talented player in the state. I was wrong and admit it, but I don't have any problem with the pick at all. Anyway if someone can post the list in this space I'd appreciate it. Ct. Game time Sports for the info. When I get the time I might have some more thoughts about this.
Last Edit: Mar 29, 2024 18:03:05 GMT -5 by nashvillestag
They should play these games in Hartford or Bridgeport
If you've ever attended one of these final games at Mohegan you might think differently. At least in the largest couple of classes they always fill the lower bowl, and quite a few match-ups between powers over the past few years have threatened the 9,000 capacity (maybe 6-7,000). Same with the girls too (although they tend to combine a girls and a boys in a single session). But the atmosphere is usually electric plus I know of people who have purposely spent a night at the hotel so they could attend all the games over the two days that it is played. The CIAC is very happy how it has worked out there and quite frankly, unlike many decisions that organization has made in the past, the one to play at that location has turned out to be a rousing success.
If you've ever attended one of these final games at Mohegan you might think differently. At least in the largest couple of classes they always fill the lower bowl, and quite a few match-ups between powers over the past few years have threatened the 9,000 capacity (maybe 6-7,000). Same with the girls too (although they tend to combine a girls and a boys in a single session). But the atmosphere is usually electric plus I know of people who have purposely spent a night at the hotel so they could attend all the games over the two days that it is played. The CIAC is very happy how it has worked out there and quite frankly, unlike many decisions that organization has made in the past, the one to play at that location has turned out to be a rousing success.