Bolton wins its first NCCC title
Bolton High had an early dismissal last Thursday so the North Central Connecticut Conference (NCCC) girls basketball championship, featuring Bolton and Somers, was moved from Thursday to Friday.
Then Bolton had another early dismissal Friday.
“If it was postponed, we wouldn’t have played,” Bolton coach Frank Mensinger said. “It would have been done. Needless to say, the kids were chomping at the bit because of the early dismissal, like, ‘Hope this doesn’t get canceled.’ ”
It didn’t and Bolton won its first NCCC tournament championship with a 50-40 win Friday over Somers.
Bolton led 25-20 at halftime but Somers scored five straight to open the third quarter and tie the score at 25.
“Riley Graves hit a huge 3 and [the momentum] just swung and we went on an 8-0 run to end the quarter,” Mensinger said.
“It was a nice moment for the school. They celebrated last night but not excessively. They understand there’s one more big prize to be had.”
Top performances of the week
Neveah Clark, Cromwell: Clark scored 20 points and had six rebounds and three assists for Cromwell in its 40-37 win over Valley Regional in the Shoreline
Conference semifinal Tuesday.
Deidre Dalessio, Somers: Dalessio had 19 points, including four 3-pointers, in a 51-48 win over Ellington in a NCCC tournament semifinal Tuesday.
Emma Diehl, Bolton: Diehl scored 13 points and had seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in Bolton’s 50-40 win over Somers in the NCCC championship game Friday and had 13 points in the Bulldogs’ 39-36 win over Granby in the semifinal game.
Enaijha Gilbert, Weaver: Gilbert had 23 points in a 61-46 victory over Classical in the CRAL semifinal Tuesday.
Faye Kaplinski, Simsbury: Kaplinski had 19 points in Simsbury’s 40-37 win over Conard in the CCC tournament championship Thursday.
Isabel Kenney, Bolton: Kenney had 15 points and six rebounds in a 50-40 win over Somers in the NCCC tournament championship and was named tournament MVP Friday.
Emily Knowles, Conard: Knowles scored 19 points in a 35-31 win over E.O. Smith in a CCC tournament semifinal game Tuesday.
Olivia Jarvis, Simsbury: Jarvis had 15 points, including seven free throws, in a 49-46 overtime win over Newington in the CCC semifinal Tuesday.
Storylines of the week
St. Paul (18-5) defeated top-seeded and three-time defending conference champion Holy Cross (20-3) to win the NVL tournament championship 51-47 on Thursday. It was the second time St. Paul beat Holy Cross this season, after breaking Holy Cross’ 57-conference game win streak last month. Holy Cross was missing one of its top players, Mya Zacagnini, who injured her ankle in the semifinals. Rebecca Kelly had a double-double (16 points, 13 rebounds) for St. Paul.
Simsbury (16-4) upset No. 1 seeded Newington in overtime in the CCC tournament semifinals with its head coach Sam Zullo watching the game on Youtube in the hospital with his wife, who was having a baby Tuesday night, then held off Conard for the third time this season, 40-37 in the championship game Thursday.
East Hampton (22-1) won the Shoreline Conference title with a 35-24 victory Friday night over Cromwell. It was the Bellringers’ fourth consecutive conference tournament championship.
Games to watch this week Mcmahon (7-13) at Conard (16-4), Tuesday, 6:30
p.m.: Conard is coming off the CCC tournament as the runner-up and will face an FCIAC team that lost its last six regular season games in a first round Class LL tournament game.
Plainfield (12-9) at Windham (14-9), Tuesday, 6:30
p.m.: The two ECC teams will face each other in the first round of the Class M tournament and are plenty familiar with each other: Windham defeated Plainfield twice in the regular season, 39-30 and 41-31, and then in a squeaker in the ECC tournament Div. II semifinal Feb. 18, 38-37.