Windsor, Connecticut – January 28, 2020: Windsor H.S. vs. East Catholic H.S. boys basketball Tuesday evening at Windsor. Final: #2 Windsor H.S. defeats #1 East Catholic H.S. 48-45.
Much like its recent rivalry, East Catholic and Windsor have traded places in the No. 1 spot in the GameTimeCT Top 10 poll.
Windsor inherited the top spot in the preseason poll after East Catholic finished in that spot to conclude the 2018-19 season. After Windsor dropped three games in Florida, East Catholic moved up from No. 2 to No. 1. Windsor returned there when it defeated East Catholic at home on Jan. 28.
CIAC TOURNAMENT PREVIEWS: 5 PLAYERS | STORYLINES | PREDICTIONS | SCHEDULE / SCOREBOARD
And now, after winning its fourth CCC title in the past five seasons, East Catholic takes the top spot as the CIAC state tournaments begin. Windsor dropped to third and Norwich Free Academy, one of two remaining undefeated teams, moves up to No. 2.
Three different teams entered the poll this week: Northwest Catholic, which defeated Windsor; Ridgefield, which won the FCIAC; and Wilbur Cross, which defended its title in the SCC. The three teams departing are Hillhouse, Immaculate and Old Lyme.
NOTE: There will not be another poll until after the completion of state tournament play.
| TEAM (1st place votes) | REC | PTS | LAST | DIV. |
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 | 1. EAST CATHOLIC (14) | 23-1 | 504 | 2 | I |
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| Last week's results:def. Glastonbury 69-51; def. Northwest Catholic 55-47. The Bottom Line: Eagles never flinched down 10 to Northwest Catholic. Matt Knowling scored 26 points as East Catholic won fourth Central Connecticut Conference title in last five years. |
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 | 2. NFA (1) | 23-0 | 466 | 4 | I |
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| Last week's results: def. Ledyard 54-43. The Bottom Line: Wildcats had to rally in the fourth quarter to win the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I title at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Only three players scored in the final, led by Masjon Jackson’s 26 points. |
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 | 3. WINDSOR (2) | 19-4 | 416 | 1 | I |
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| Last week's results: lost to Northwest Catholic 72-62. The Bottom Line: Northwest Catholic handed Windsor its first in-state loss in the CCC tournament semifinals. |
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 | 4. SACRED HEART | 21-1 | 352 | 3 | I |
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| Last week's results: lost to Holy Cross 66-58. The Bottom Line:Holy Cross was able to do what nother team from the Naugatuck Valley League could: hand the Hearts a league loss. The 125-game league winning streak lasted almost six full seasons. |
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 | 5. PRINCE TECH | 23-0 | 340 | 8 | II |
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| Last week's results: def. Windham Tech 108-59; def. Goodwin Tech 57-54. The Bottom Line: Survived a huge upset bid from Goodwin Tech in the Connecticut Technical Conference tournament final to remain one of two undefeated teams. Prince Tech is the top seed in Division II. |
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 | 6. NAUGATUCK | 22-1 | 335 | 9 | II |
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| Last week's results: def. WCA 69-43; def. Holy Cross 73-54. The Bottom Line: Big start to the second half against Holy Cross helped Naugatuck win its first Naugatuck Valley Leahue championship in a half-century. The Greyhounds are seeded second in Division II. |
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 | 7. NOTRE DAME-WH | 21-2 | 284 | 5 | I |
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| Last week's results:def. Hamden 72-54; lost to Wilbur Cross 49-48. The Bottom Line: Notre Dame blew a second-half lead and scored just three points in the fourth quarter to fall to Wilbur Cross for the second straight season in the Southern Connecticut Conference tournament final. |
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 | 8. NORTHWEST CATHOLIC | 20-4 | 271 | NR | III |
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| Last week's results: def. Windsor 72-62; lost to East Catholic 55-47. The Bottom Line: Impressive come-from-behind victory oevr Windsor in the CCC tournament semifinals vaulted the Lions back into the top 10. Northwest Catholic is the No. 2 seed in the Division III field. |
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 | 9. RIDGEFIELD | 21-2 | 234 | NR | I |
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| Last week's results:def. Fairfield Ludlowe 54-47; def. Trinity Catholic 63-58. The Bottom Line: Ridgefield successfully defended its Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference tournament title by defeating Trinity Catholic. Tigers make their first appearance in the top 10. |
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 | 10. WILBUR CROSS | 17-7 | 211 | NR | I |
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| Last week's results: def. Hillhouse 63-53; def. Notre Dame-West Haven 49-48. The Bottom Line: Cross did it again, shutting down Notre Dame-West Haven to repeat as SCC tournament champions. The Governors host Bassick in the Division I opening round. |
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| Dropped out: Hillhouse (6), Immaculate (7) and Old Lyme (10). First-place votes in parentheses and points tabulated on a 30-28-26-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-11-10-9-8-7 basis. |
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| Others receiving votes: Old Lyme (22-1), 208; Hillhouse (19-3), 184; Immaculate (21-2), 163; Holy Cross (17-6), 112; Canton (21-2), 76; Kolbe Cathedral (17-6), 60; Trinity Catholic (17-6) 43; Bristol Central (17-5), 16; Fairfield Warde (17-5), 9; Fitch (18-4), Ledyard (14-9) and Tolland (19-2), 8. | |||||||
| The following voted: Paul Augeri, Middletown Press; Bill Bloxsom, Milford/Trumbull Pubs; Mike DiMauro, The Day of New London; Scott Ericson, Stamford Advocate; Dave Grant, WATR-AM; Tim Jensen, Patch Media Corp.; Sean Krofssik, Record-Journal of Meriden; Mike Madera, GameTimeCT; Kyle Maher, Journal-Inquirer of Manchester; Joe Morelli, New Haven Register; Keith O'Brien, Game Day CT Sports; Dave Phillips, Shore Line Newspapers; Dave Ruden, The Ruden Report; Ben Talbott, Bird’s Eye Sports; Richard Zalusky, The Chronicle of Willimantic; Jimmy Zanor, Norwich Bulletin; Joe Zone, WFSB-3. Poll Compiled by Joe Morelli |
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