View from the top

Breaking down the brackets: Familiar foes ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in Division I

The brackets for the CIAC boys basketball tournament were announced Wednesday and East Catholic, last year’s Division I champion and Northwest Catholic, last year’s Division II runner-up, are the top two seeds in the Division I tournament.

East Catholic, which defeated Platt 90-44 in the CCC tournament semifinal, will play in the CCC tournament championship game Thursday against Bloomfield, the top seed in the Division III tournament.

Bloomfield won the Division IV championship last year and will compete in Division III this year.

Here’s a quick look at the divisions:

Division I

East Catholic came in last year as the eighth seed with a 15-5 regular season record. The Eagles beat Wilbur Cross, who had knocked off No. 1 Naugatuck in the first round, en route to the title game, where they defeated No. 2 seed Notre Dame-west Haven, 50-49, to take home the title. East Catholic, who lost Samson Reilly to a foot injury last Feb. 14, are in a much better place this season and should be the favorites to win again. The Eagles beat No. 2 seed Northwest Catholic 70-49 on Feb. 14 and their only loss came to St. Augustine (Calif.) 67-57 on Jan. 14 at the Hoop Hall Classic. Northwest Catholic will look to avenge a loss to No. 15 seed Bristol Central, in a rematch of the Division II championship game in the second round March 8.

Division II

Windsor, which lost three of its last four games after losing junior Anthony Williams to a broken leg, is the No. 8 seed and will host Brien Mcmahon Tuesday in a first round game. If Windsor wins and if No. 9 Glastonbury gets by Trumbull in the first round, the two CCC teams could face each other for the first time this season in the second round. SMSA, last year’s Division V runner-up, is the 11th seed and will host Stamford on Tuesday in a first round game. Conard, the 18th seed, will play No. 15 Farmington in a first round game Tuesday. The Red Wolves, who knocked off Northwest Catholic in the first round of the CCC tournament before losing

to Bloomfield in the semifinals, lost to Farmington 51-45 on Feb. 6.

HARTFORD COURANT East Catholic’s Matt Morgan, right, tries to keep the ball away from Northwest Catholic’s Gianni Mirabello during the teams’ regular-season meeting on Feb. 14. Morgan and the Eagles handed the Lions a 70-49 defeat then, but there could be another meeting in the future as East was named the top seed in the state Division I tournament with Northwest ranked No. 2 in the field.