Waterbury Career Academy’s magical run through the Class S state tournament continues, and the next destination is the semifinal round.
St. Paul was ousted by top-seeded Westbrook in Class S. Crosby saw its season close in a close Class L road loss to Wilton. Both were quarterfinal round games.
Here’s what happened in each game:
CLASS S QUARTERFINAL ROUND
No. 23 WCA 50, No. 2 Canton 45: The Spartans have been road warriors throughout the tournament, and that continued with a win over the Warriors of the North Central Connecticut Conference.
WCA (13-10) is scheduled to play No. 6 Trinity Catholic of Stamford on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Bunnell High School in Stratford. That may not happen because of the nasty winter storm hitting the state, so stay tuned. Trinity is from the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference.
Marquan Watson scored 19 points to lead WCA. Jaden Battle had a big 16 points while Matt Torres added 10.
The Spartans led 14-11 after one quarter, then extended the lead to 29-21 by halftime. Canton was able to cut the margin to 38-35 by the end of the third quarter, but WCA hung on during the fourth quarter.
Keep this in mind with these Spartans: Jalen Edwards is the only senior. What a run for such a young team.
No. 1 Westbrook 86, No. 8 St. Paul 68: The Falcons saw their season end against a very good Knights team in a crowded Westbrook gym.
Tyler Arbuckle put in 21 points to lead St. Paul. Austin Jones had 17 points, Mike Palmieri added 12 and Matt Garry 11. The Falcons were within five points early in the third quarter, but the Knights stretched their advantage to 59-43 by the end of those eight minutes.
St. Paul finishes the season at 17-7, with a NVL Copper Division title to boot. The Falcons lose seniors Jones, Eli Kennedy and Tom Houle to graduation.
CLASS L QUARTERFINAL ROUND
No. 6 Wilton 65, No. 14 Crosby 61: The Bulldogs battled and had a one-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t meant to me against the Warriors in Wilton.
Senior co-captain Miguel Rivera led Crosby with 18 points on six 3-pointers, according to stats posted on the team’s MaxPreps page. Fellow senior co-captain Jeremiah Kendall had 12 points, but dealt with a bunch of foul trouble in his final game. Tarique Foggie had 12 points on four 3-pointers while Markeese Days added 10. The Bulldogs were 12-of-32 on three-point attempts. Days led Crosby with six rebounds.
Crosby had a 61-60 lead with two minutes to go, but Wilton scored the final five points to win. The Warriors claimed a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound, then hit two foul shots to seal the game.
Crosby finishes the season at 16-9. The Bulldogs lose Rivera, Kendall, Allen Munoz, Nosa Igbinewuare and Perris Brinkley to graduation.
