BREAKING DOWN CIAC BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS
The CIAC boys basketball tournaments begin with one Division I playdown game on Friday, March 1, followed by the opening round beginning Monday, March 4, with teams vying for state championships in five classes.
The run to the sun ends the weekend of March 16-17 at Mohegan Sun Arena. Days and times for each of the finals will be announced later in the tournament. Quarterfinals will take place March 8 and 11, semifinals March 12-13.
GameTimeCT staff writer Joe Morelli breaks down all you need to know about the five state tournaments.
DIVISION I STORYLINES
The champ is here, part 1: East CatholicManchester has won the last three CIAC Division I championship games at the Mohegan Sun Arena. The Eagles lost a pair of regular season games, including its first against a Connecticut team (Windsor) since late February of 2022. East Catholic is seeded fifth with a potential road quarterfinal at No. 4 Notre Dame-Fairfield. The road to Uncasville won't be easy for the Eagles. Speaking of former champions, St. Bernard-Uncasville, which won Division II last year, moved up and is the No. 6 seed in this bracket while Waterbury Career, which won Division III a season ago, is the No. 9 seed and plays at No. 8 Southington in the first round. St. Bernard and WCA repeated as ECC Division I and NVL champions, respectively.
Lions, Tigers and Cougars, oh my!: Ridgefield advanced to the Division I semifinals last season before falling to eventual champion East Catholic. The No. 2 seeded Tigers have two losses, winning 17 consecutive games before losing to Staples-Westport in the FCIAC tournament semifinals. They were ranked No. 2 in the GameTimeCT Top 10 poll heading into the FCIAC tournament. Kolbe Cathedral is ranked sixth and seeded third. The Cougars' only loss was to Notre Dame-Fairfield (the No. 4 seed). Northwest Catholic has been ranked all season long — currently ninth — and the Lions are seeded seventh, a potential quarterfinal-round game at Ridgefield in the offing.
ND-ND III: Notre Dame-West Haven is the only remaining undefeated team. The Green Knights, the top seed here and now three-time SCC tournament champions, has defeated Notre Dame-Fairfield in the Division I quarterfinals each of the last two seasons. There is potential for a third matchup, this time in the semifinals, if seeding holds to form. That's a big if because it's an impressive bracket of teams. You will have earned the state championship with four victories here.
TOP PLAYERS
Najimi George, Kolbe Cathedral, Sr., G/F: Already has played in one state final at the Sun. Would like to conclude his career with another appearance.
Amyre Gray, St. Bernard, Jr., G: Has been a constant scoring threat throughout the season and is pretty rugged on the defensive end of the floor as well.
Samson Reilly, East Catholic, Sr., G: Has had to carry the Eagles' offense quite a few times this season and has flourished with those expectations. Heading to play at Quinnipiac.
Kamryn Salters, Notre Dame-Fairfield, Jr., G: Gets to the rim with ease, plays the passing lanes well and can stick the jump shot from deep.
Abdou Toure, Notre Dame-West Haven, Soph., G/F: High-riser for the three-time
SCC tournament champions has really come into his own as the only returning starter from last season's team that reached the CIAC Division I semifinals. SEEDED UPSETS
No. 9 WCA wins at No. 8 Southington. MORELLI’S PICKS
Final Four: No. 1 Notre Dame-West Haven, No. 4 Notre Dame-Fairfield, No. 2 Ridgefield, No. 3 Kolbe Cathedral Championship: Notre Dame-Fairfield beats Kolbe Cathedral.
DIVISION II
STORYLINES
CCC-Tested: The Central Connecticut Conference has been the top conference in the state for several years now. Nearly half of the 27 teams that qualified in Division II were from the CCC, 13 in all. That includes Manchester, the top seed, with only losses to East Catholic and Conard during the regular season, No. 4 New Britain, No. 7 Conard, No. 9 Farmington and No. 13 Glastonbury. No. 2 seed Windsor is the team to beat in this division. The Warriors recently snapped East Catholic's 46-game Connecticut winning streak.
Reppin’ the FCIAC: Trumbull is currently ranked 10th in the GameTimeCT Top 10 poll, having earned the No. 3 seed here after placing second in the FCIAC regular season. Stamford, the No. 8 seed, won at Trumbull during the regular season and also spent some time in the top 10. Wilton (No. 11), Fairfield Warde (14) and Norwalk (21) can also provide some noise in this bracket.
Whale of a time: New London, too, has been ranked in the top 10 poll for a portion of this season. The Whalers won 16 regular-season games to earn the No. 6 seed. Their losses are to St. Bernard (twice) and Windsor. All three games were winnable, falling to both St. Bernard and Windsor in overtime in games they led. St. Bernard came from 21 points down to beat New London in the rematch. Still, the Whalers are a dangerous club. If they can find a way to get to the finals, they could have a nice home-court advantage at Mohegan.
TOP PLAYERS
Jaylen Brown, Norwalk, Sr., G: Leading scorer in the FCIAC carried the Bears to the postseason. Now, can Brown prolong his career at Norwalk?
Riley Fox, Conard, Sr., G: Yale-bound Fox surpassed 2,000 career points in the regular-season finale, becoming the 27th CIAC player to do so.
Elijah Parker, Holy Cross, Jr., G: Has been a star in the NVL since his freshman year. A three-time All-League First Team selection, Parker is averaging 28 ppg.
Ejai Presley, Stamford, Jr., G: Two-sport star (also football) for the Black Knights. Presley looking for some postseason success after Stamford's early exit in the FCIAC tournament.
Anthony Williams, Windsor, Sr., F: Made a complete recovery from a broken leg a year ago to be a dominant force again for the Warriors.
SEEDED UPSETS
No. 19 Newington over No. 14 Fairfield Warde. No. 13 Glastonbury over No. 4 New Britain in the second round. MORELLI’S PICKS
Final Four: No. 1 Manchester, No. 5 Holy Cross-Waterbury, No. 2 Windsor and No. 3 Trumbull.
Championship: Windsor defeats Holy Cross.
DIVISION III
STORYLINES
Wide open and battle-tested: You could probably say that about certain divisions every year. But in Division III, there is such a mix of teams that come from bigger conferences, or won some games against stellar competition and now, we see if that benefits teams like Lewis Mills-Burlington, the No. 2 seed out of the CCC, No. 3 WilbyWaterbury and No. 8 Seymour out of the NVL, No. 5 Bunnell-Stratford and No. 12 Brookfield out of the SWC and on a second-round collision course, No. 14 Fairfield Ludlowe and No. 17 St. Joseph-Trumbull out of the FCIAC and No. 9 FitchGroton, an ECC Division I tournament finalist. Then there is SMSA, the NCCC regular-season champion and the 2022 Division V runner-up, at the top of the bracket.
TOP PLAYERS
Brandon Beamon, Wilby, Sr., G/F: Averaging nearly 24 points per game to earn All-NVL laurels and helped lead the squad to the league tournament semifinals. Abijah Miller, SMSA, Sr., F: Last season's NCCC tournament MVP is averaging over 22 points and 13 rebounds per game for the league regular-season champions. Jayvon Robinson, Fitch, Soph., G: The underclassman is already a two-time AllECC Division I selection, helping lead the Falcons to the ECC Division I tournament championship game.
Shane Weber, Brookfield, Sr., G: The Bobcats' all-time leading scorer had a 50-point game earlier this season.
T.J. Wright, Sr. Joseph, Jr., G: Among the leading scorers in the FCIAC, hoping to lead the Cadets on a deep run here. SEEDED UPSETS
No. 23 Amity-Woodbridge over No. 10 Griswold. No. 13 North Haven over No. 4 Shepaug Valley in the second round. No. 11 East Lyme over No. 6 East Haven in the second round.
MORELLI’S PICKS
Final Four: No. 9 Fitch-Groton, No. 5 Bunnell-Stratford, No. 2 Lewis Mills-Burlington, No. 3 Wilby-Waterbury. Championship: Wilby wins its first state championship since 1953 over Fitch.
DIVISION IV
STORYLINES
The champ is here, part 2: Cromwell returns to attempt to repeat in Division IV. The Panthers lost their first two games of the season, but won their next 18, including a pair of come-from-behind victories against Morgan-Clinton and InnovationNew Britain, respectively. The Payne brothers, Victor and Vaughn, lead the way for Cromwell, which could potentially get a rematch in the final against Ellington, the No. 5 seed. Second-seeded Cromwell has Innovation, Weaver and Bristol Eastern in its half of the bracket.
Huskymania, Morgan style: Morgan has had plenty of success in recent years. The Huskies went undefeated in the Shoreline Conference during the 2021 season — when no CIAC tournaments were held due to the COVID-19 pandemic — and reached the Division IV semifinals in 2022, falling to eventual champion Bloomfield. Morgan lost in the first round last year so now, behind a senior-laden group, the Huskies are poised for another deep tournament run.
TOP PLAYERS
Amari Cruz, Innovation, Sr., G: Two-time All-CRAL selection averaged 15.5 points per game to help Innovation win the league regular-season title without a single loss.
Damnic Gittens, Cheney Tech, Sr., F: Top player on the best team in the CTC. Its only losses were to Kolbe Cathedral, St. Bernard and Manchester.
Jack Nye, Morgan, Sr. C: A double-double machine for this experienced group that reached the Shoreline final and earned the top seed in this division.
Victor Payne, Cromwell, Sr., G: Reigning Shoreline Conference Player of the Year scored over 40 points twice, including 28 of his career-high 44 in the fourth quarter of Cromwell's comeback win over Morgan. Darren Zahner, Ellington, Sr., G: One of the returning starters from last season's Division IV Run to the Sun.
SEEDED UPSETS
No. 22 Pomperaug-Southbury over No. 11 Platt Tech-Milford. No. 23 Career-New Haven over No. 10 Goodwin Tech-New Britain. No. 22 Pomperaug over No. 6 Bristol Eastern in the second round. MORELLI’S PICKS
Final Four: No. 1 Morgan, No. 4 Cheney Tech, No. 2 Cromwell and No. 3 Innovation.
Championship: Cromwell repeats over Cheney Tech.
DIVISION V
STORYLINES
The champ is here, part 3: Windsor Locks rode the top seed to the Division V state championship last season. Its last four games were decided by double digits. Can a repeat be in the offing? Windsor Locks will be the No. 2 seed this time around. In addition to No. 3 Old Lyme being in its portion of the bracket, there is No. 6 Somers — which eliminated Windsor Locks in the NCCC tournament quarterfinals. Looking for No. 1: Nonnewaug-Woodbury is the Berkshire League regular-season champion. Nonnewaug went out in the first round in last year's Division V tournament. Now, it's the top seed this year and has some solid programs in its portion of the bracket: Haddam-Killingworth, Classical Magnet, Coventry and CoginchaugDurham. Nonnewaug has never won a state championship and has appeared in the final just twice, the last time in 1973.
TOP PLAYERS
Andrew Crayton, Haddam-Killingworth, Sr., G: Posted a career-high 31 points earlier this season against Coginchaug and then went 13 of 14 from the free-throw line en route to 24 points in the Shoreline tournament matchup with the Blue Devils. Leland Hine, Old Lyme, Sr., F: Averaged a double-double for the Wildcats, who reached the Shoreline Conference tournament semifinals.
Sincere Monroe, Windsor Locks, Jr., G: Was clutch in last year's championship game, scoring a game-high 22 points and making all five free throws he took in the final quarter.
Ben Roden, Nonnewaug, Sr., F: Productive upperclassmen for the Berkshire League regular-season champions itching for a deep postseason run.
SEEDED UPSETS
No. 10 East Windsor over No. 7 Aerospace in the second round. MORELLI’S PICKS
Final Four: No. 1 Nonnewaug, No. 4 Haddam-Killingworth, No. 2 Windsor Locks and No. 6 Somers.
Championship: Windsor Locks repeats, defeating Nonnewaug.