The CIAC girls basketball state tournament brackets have been released, and four local teams earned first round home games. They are St. Paul, Sacred Heart, Holy Cross and Bristol Eastern.
St. Paul earned a No. 3 seed in Class S, Sacred Heart is No. 4 in Class M, Holy Cross is No. 12 in Class M, and Eastern is No. 9 in Class L. Here’s who each team will be playing:
St. Paul
The Falcons (18-2 regular season) will host No. 30 seed Coventry (8-12) next Monday at 7 p.m. St. Paul and Coventry didn’t share a common opponent this season. North Central Connecticut Conference champion Canton (20-0) is the top seed in Class S while Berkshire League regular season champion Housatonic (19-1) is the No. 2 seed.
Sacred Heart
The Hearts (17-3) will host NVL foe Oxford (10-10), the No. 29 seed, next Tuesday at 7 p.m. Sacred Heart won the only meeting between the teams, 52-41, on Dec. 20, 2018. BL runner-up Northwestern Regional (18-2) is the top seed. Shoreline Conference power Cromwell (17-3) is No. 2 while South-West Conference resident Kolbe Cathedral (17-3) is No. 3.
Holy Cross
The Crusaders (15-5) will host No. 21 New Fairfield (12-8) next Tuesday at 7 p.m. Holy Cross and New Fairfield each played against Watertown this season. New Fairfield beat Watertown 49-45 on Jan. 14. Holy Cross beat Watertown 61-49 on Jan. 18, then defeated the Indians again, 48-32, in the NVL Tournament semifinal round on Monday. There is a chance that Holy Cross and Sacred Heart could meet for a third time in the Class M quarterfinals. It would be the third meeting between the teams, but there’s a long way to go before that game could happen.
Bristol Eastern
The Lancers (13-7) host another team called the Lancers, No. 24 Waterford (8-12), next Monday at 7 p.m. Eastern and Waterford share two common opponents, Rocky Hill and Wethersfield. Eastern beat Rocky Hill (62-55, Jan. 24) and Wethersfield (65-56, Feb. 4). Waterford lost to Rocky Hill (45-58, Jan. 5) and Wethersfield (30-61, Jan. 29). The No. 1 seed in Class L is South-West Conference regular season champion Notre Dame-Fairfield (19-1), followed by No. 2 Windsor (19-1, CCC regular season champion) and No. 3 Bullard-Havens Tech (18-2, CTC regular season champion).
And here are the other two local teams that qualified for the state tournament:
Waterbury Career Academy
The Spartans (10-10) are the No. 18 seed and will play at No. 15 Farmington (10-10) in the Class L state tournament next Monday at 7 p.m. WCA and Farmington each played Torrington this season. Each team picked up a win, WCA by the score of 45-33 on Dec. 14, 2018, and Farmington by the score of 63-33 on Jan. 22.
Crosby
The Bulldogs (8-12) are the No. 27 seed and will play at No. 6 Pomperaug (15-5) in Class L next Monday at 7 p.m. Crosby and Pomperaug didn’t share a common opponent this season.
