A perfect ending
Capital Prep caps off an undefeated season with its first CRAL championship
As Capital Prep boys basketball coach Levy Gillespie saw howhis returning players developed and how younger players filtered into the varsity program, he believed this year’s Trailblazers could be even better than last year’s, which went 16-4 and clinched the third seed in the Division III state tournament.
“I was right,” Gillespie said. “They are better.”
In their first year in the Capital Region Athletic League after years as an independent, the Trailblazers went 14-0 and wonthe conference championship over Innovation — the 2018 Division Vstate champions — on Saturday, 63-47.
Capital Prep, along with every other team in Connecticut, never had the chance to play for a championship last year after the CIAC canceled the state tournaments due to COVID-19. Cutting down the nets on Saturday was the closest thing to redemption.
“I told them, you guys get four chances,” Gillespie said. “As long as I keep coaching, I get more chances. ... I got to see them win, and I got to see them see how it felt to have that experience.”
The Trailblazers made light work of their opponents this year, with their narrowest win being by seven points over Innovation in February. Capital Prep has a certified star in junior Keyshawn Mitchell, a 6-foot-9 guard who has an offer from UMass. But what made the Trailblazers so good was that success wasn’t reliant on Mitchell. Seniors Jalen Gordon, Christopher Hough and Kadeem McKnight all had big games along the way, as did juniors Quincy Ferguson, Mehki Tyson-Slaughter and Mitchell.
Players of the week
DonovanClingan, Bristol Central: In three tournament wins against Windsor, Northwest Catholic and East Catholic, Clingan averaged 36 points and 26 rebounds.
Luke Strole, East Catholic: Strole scored 20 points in the CCC championship game against Bristol Central and scored 19 against East Hartford in the semifinals.
Jacob Smith, Farmington: Smith scored 25 points in the CCCDivision II final against Hall and had 19 against Avon in the semifinals.
Omarion Miller, Plainville: Miller scored 21 points against Conard to lead Plainville to a CCC Division III conference title. He scored 24 points against Manchester in the semifinals.
Alsharif Bogar, SMSA: Bogar scored a game-high 23 in SMSA’s NCCC championship win over Ellington and had 13 against Rockville in the semifinals.
Kyle Whitwell, Tolland: Whitwell scored 20 points against Enfield, 21 against Bulkeley and 23 against Hartford Public.
MasaiJohnson, PrinceTech: Johnson had 11 points and 22 rebounds against O’Brien Tech in the CTC championship game.
Ian Calabrese, Simsbury: Calabrese averaged 20.5 points and eight rebounds in two games last week.
Elijah Parent, Bristol Eastern: Parent averaged 20 points in two games last week.
Alex Fratamico, Morgan: Fratamico scored a team-high 17 points in the Shoreline Conference championship win over Valley Regional.
Conference champions
CCC: Bristol Central beat East Catholic to win its first Central Connecticut Conference title since 2003. The Rams, led by 7-foot-1 junior Donovon Clingan, beat Windsor, Northwest Catholic and the Eagles to do so.
NCCC: Sport and Medical Sciences Academy was seeded second in last year’s Division IV state tournament but never got a chance to play after the postseason was canceled due to COVID-19. This season, the Tigers went 11-1 in the regular season and beat second-seeded Ellington in the North Central Connecticut Conference championship game.
CTC: No one was going to stop Prince Tech this year. The Falcons dominated the league and beat O’Brien Tech to win another conference title. Led by seniors Tyshawn Jackson and Dajon Nelson, Prince Tech won its fourth straight league title and 38th straight game overall.
Shoreline: Morgan was the best team in the Shoreline Conference all year, going undefeated in the regular season, then finishing the job in the conference tournament with a win over Valley Regional on Saturday.