Area high school girls basketball teams had their first practices on Monday.
Tomorrow, the boys begin their preseason workouts.
Here are some early story lines. Many teams don’t have rosters up yet, so a little tough to see what each team has.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
- Season starts on Monday, Dec. 12. Many teams don’t have rosters, but
- Can someone knock off HOLY CROSS? The Crusaders are synonymous with success in the NVL, both during the regular season and the tournament. Holy Cross lost Rashana Siders and Caitlin Cipriano to graduation, but it returns Idalis Miranda, Century McCartney, Aiyana Ward and Gabby Goldman. The Crusaders hope McCartney will be healthy after last year’s knee injury. Holy Cross was a Class M semifinalist last year and would love to get back to that level.
- Three local teams have been moved up in class: HOLY CROSS has been pushed up to Class L due to its success in the postseason. ST. PAUL has been moved to Class M because of success. BRISTOL EASTERN is in Class LL due to enrollment.
- ST. PAUL: Brigid Johndrow returns as a senior leader for the Falcons, who were hit by graduation losses. Amelia Sanchez is another returning senior to watch. St. Paul lost in the second round of Class M to Immaculate at home.
- KENNEDY: The Eagles reached the NVL Tournament final last season and would love to get past the first round of the Class LL state tournament.
- Local teams by tournament division: Class LL — Bristol Eastern; Class L — Bristol Central, Crosby, Holy Cross, Kennedy, Wilby; Class M — Kaynor Tech, St. Paul, Wolcott; Class S — Sacred Heart.
BOYS BASKETBALL
- BIG coaching changes in area boys basketball. Ryan Olsen takes over for the legend Ed Generali at HOLY CROSS, and long-time assistant Bunty Ray moves over a chair and replaces another legend, Mike Giovinazzo, at BRISTOL EASTERN.
- Player transfers: Tyler Arbuckle — St. Paul from Bristol Eastern. Jamil Hornesby — East Catholic from BristoL Central. Roderick Jenkins — Bristol Eastern from Waterbury Career Academy.
- SACRED HEART: Junior Raheem Solomon and senior Courie Stevenson help lead the way, but the Hearts will also get help from Platt transfer Isiah Gaiter. Gaiter isn’t listed on the roster, and neither is freshman Nate Tabor. Tabor is supposed to be coming to Sacred Heart, which has won three straight state titles.
- Can SACRED HEART four-peat?
It’ll be a tall task. The Hearts are in Class L, and they lost Mustapha
Heron (Auburn), Tyrn Flowers (UMass), Charles Fisher and J.T. Riddick to
graduation. - HOLY CROSS: Jack Potter returns as a senior, but the junior class is where the Crusaders are strong. Nyzair Rountree, DeAndre Wallace and Marcellus Gomes are among the returnees in that class. Holy Cross got to the semifinal round in Generali’s last season, and they hope to reach higher this season.
- Welcome to ST. PAUL: Arbuckle joins St. Paul’s program, and his transfer has the Falcons feeling good. St. Paul will be a pain in the neck to guard on the outside, with Arbuckle adding to the talents of Austin Jones and Mike Palmieri.
- Local teams by tournament division: Class LL — Kennedy, Wilby; Class L — Bristol Central, Bristol Eastern, Crosby, Sacred Heart; Class M — Holy Cross, Kaynor Tech, Wolcott; Class S — St. Paul, Waterbury Career Academy.
OF NOTE
- Welcome to the NVL: Waterbury Career Academy will play its first season as a varsity squad in the league this winter. The Spartans have a boys team and a girls team.
This is by no means a complete list of what’s happening. No list I come up with will be. Most teams don’t have rosters set up yet, and the ones that are out aren’t what the final ones will be. I am going off of what I’ve read, and what happened last season.
If I missed something you feel I should have mentioned, tweet me @SportsonCT69 or email me at sportsonct69@gmail.com
