Sports: New London girls beat Bacon, win third straight ECC Div. I basketball title
Indians hold off Whips and will face No. 1 Saints in Thursday’s quarters
Montville — Colin Nickerson hit three clutch free throws in the closing seconds as eighth-seeded Montville held on for a 57-55 victory over No. 9 Windham in the opening round of the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II boys' basketball tournament on Tuesday.
The Indians (8-13) won't have to travel far to play its quarterfinal round game on Thursday against crosstown rival St. Bernard, the top seed, at 6 p.m.
Montville, which led 27-21 at the half, built its lead to 45-33 after three quarters before holding off the Whippets, who twice pulled to within in point in the final minute. They missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Zach Southard scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Indians while Ethan McKinney added 16 and Griffin Pontbriant 11. Issiah English scored 22 points for Windham. In other games: • No. 5 Waterford broke open a close game in the third quarter as the Lancers completed a perfect season in ECC Division II play with a 76-51 road victory over Woodstock Academy. Waterford (19-1, 8-0), the No. 1 seed in the ECC Division I tournament, led by only two, 30-28, at the half before outscoring the Centaurs 29-15 in the third quarter to take charge. Guards JJ Brennan and Kenny Hill scored 20 points apiece for the Lancers. Aaron Johnson paced the Centaurs (9-10, 5-3) with 25 points.
• Wheeler's regular season came to an end with a 61-53 loss to Parish Hill in a nonleague game. Ian Spracklin scored 23 points, Bowen Baker had 14 points and five assists and Liam Patrick had six rebounds for Wheeler (5-15).
Women's basketball
• Avery Point's Ashley Burke scored a season-high 32 points but the Pointers lost to no. 5 Nassau Community College 89-76. Rebekah Sanders of Quaker Hill had 25 rebounds and 10 points and Waterford's Mia Brennan had 15 points and seven assists for Avery Point (12-13).
Men's basketball
• Jared Garcia had 22 points and eight rebounds, but St. Thomas More was outlasted by Putnam Science 8371 on Monday night. Wayne Bristol and Nick MacDonald added 14 points and five rebounds apiece for the Chancellors (20-15) while Brendan McGuire finished with eight assists and five rebounds.
College honors
• Coast Guard Academy's Logan Morin and Trey Johnson swept the New England Small College Athletic Conference player of the week awards in men's lacrosse. Morin, a junior attack from Norwich Free Academy, was named Offensive Player of the Week after scoring three goals in a 10-1 season-opening win against Elizabethtown while Johnson, a senior goalie, was named Defensive Player of the Week after making 13 saves and allowing just one goal.
CIAC basketball clinic
• The CIAC, in conjunction with its boys' and girls' basketball finals at Mohegan Sun Arena, will hold its first Connecticut High School Basketball Coaching Clinic on Friday, March 15, at 7 p.m. at Mohegan Sun. The event will feature a question and answer session on NFHS rules with the Connecticut State Board Rules Interpreter, as well as presentations from three college coaches: Coast Guard men's coach Kevin Jaskiewicz, Sacred Heart men's coach Anthony Latina and Eastern Connecticut women's coach Denise Bierly. The event is $15 and open to all state high school basketball coaches.