Six local boys basketball teams begin their state tournament runs today, with each game beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Two of those local teams, Holy Cross and Kennedy, play each other in a Division II first round matchup at Tim McDonald Gymnasium. The Crusaders are the No. 5 seed and the Eagles are the No. 28 seed. Holy Cross won both regular season meetings against Kennedy.
Three of the other local teams also play Division II first round games. Fourth-seeded Bristol Central hosts No. 29 Bunnell-Stratford and eighth-seeded Crosby is home against No. 25 Hartford Public.
No. 15 Waterbury Career Academy plays a “home” game against No. 18 Weaver-Hartford at Kennedy High School. The Spartans’ home gymnasium is too small to host state tournament games.
In Division IV, No. 23 Wilby takes the road trip to No. 10 Granby Memorial.
What happened Monday?
Three local teams played, and two of them survived and advanced.
The third-seeded Holy Cross girls basketball team defeated No. 22 Stonington, 64-54, in a Class M quarterfinal round game at Tim McDonald Gymnasium. Cayla Howard (23) and Mya Zaccagnini (20) each went over the 20-point mark in the win. Alyssa Hebb added 11 points and Alyssa French-Graham tallied eight off the bench. Holy Cross plays the winner of No. 2 Canton and No. 10 Coginchaug Regional-Durham in a semifinal on Friday at a place and time to be determined. The Warriors and Blue Devils had their game suspended late in the first half due to a power outage last night and pick it back up tonight at 6:30.
The No. 16 St. Paul boys basketball team outlasted No. 17 Maloney, 64-61, at the Rev. Brian Monnerat Gymnasium. Jack Noli scored 17 points, Noah Waters tallied 15 and Will Barton added 12 for the Falcons. St. Paul travels to top-seeded Tolland on Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off.
The No. 16 Kaynor Tech boys saw its season end with a 57-54 home loss to No. 17 Stafford. Fernando Cerda had a game-high 23 points while Jared Gomez added 13.
Photo credit: Sam Henderlite and Holy Cross begin their state tournament journey tonight at home against Kennedy. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69, file)
