The GameTimeCT Top 10 Girls Basketball Poll (Feb. 16): ND-Fairfield No. 1, Sheehan joins as postseason nears

Notre Dame-Fairfield marches on, remaining the unanimous No. 1 as the 2020 girls basketball postseason draws just days closer.

The GameTimeCT Top 10 stayed mostly the same with the only losses being NFA’s one-point loss to Bacon Academy and Southington’s two defeats.

GIRLS BASKETBALL NOTES: WOODLAND’S MEDER SCORES; ABBOTT TECH TURNAROUND; HALE RAY FORFEIT

The two losses by Southington knocked it out of the top 10 and allowed Sheehan to slide in as the second SCC school to make it.

That balances things out with two CCC, SWC, SCC, FCIAC and ECC schools each making the cut.

WEEK’S FINE PERFORMANCES; GAMES TO WATCH

The regular season wraps up this week and conference tournaments begin Thursday across the state.

The GameTimeCT Top 10 Girls Basketball Poll (Feb. 16)

		TEAM (1st place votes)			REC	PTS	LAST	CLASS
		1. NOTRE DAME-FAIRFIELD (17)			17-1	510	1	L
Last week: def. Kolbe Cathedral 57-42, Weston 70-34 This week: vs New Milford, Tue. 7; SWC tournament, Fri. vs TBA. Bottom Line: The Lancers can wrap up an unbeaten regular season in the state and the No. 1 seed in the Class L tournament. They are already the top seed in the SWC tournament. Nobody has been within 15 points of them in a month.
		2. STAPLES			16-2	468	2	LL
Last week: def. Ridgefield 44-32, Darien 39-24 This week: at St. Joseph, Mon. 7; vs Westhill, Wed. 7; FCIAC tournament, Sat vs TBA Bottom Line: Arianna Gerig and the Wreckers can clinch the No. 1 seed in both the FCIAC and Class LL tournaments by winning out this week. Staples has beaten its last seven opponents by double digits. Staples has not won the FCIAC tournament since 1995.
		3. NEWTOWN			16-3	432	3	LL
Last week: def. Masuk 54-17, East Lyme 46-30, Kolbe Cathedral 46-39. This week: at New Fairfield, Tue. 7; SWC tournament, Fri. vs TBA. Bottom Line: A win in the finale means home court through the Class LL quarterfinals. The Nighthawks only in-state losses have come to ranked teams and they have won 7-straight heading into the last week of the season.
		4. NEWINGTON			17-2	394	5	L
Last week: def. Hartford Public 53-30, New Britain 48-29 This week: vs Wethersfield, Tue. 6:45; CCC tournament, Fri. vs TBA. Bottom Line: Ashanti Frazier, Sabrina Soler and Newington have held its last seven opponents under 40 points. A win over Wethersfield, the only CCC to beat them this season, will give the Indians a top-four seed in the Class L tournament.
		5. NEW LONDON			17-3	351	6	LL
Last week: def. East Lyme 53-47, RHAM 59-50. This week: ECC D-I tournament, Thur. vs TBA. Bottom Line: The Whalers clinched a share of the ECC regular season title for the seventh-straight season. They will go into the Class LL tournament as a top-four seed. Since 2014, the Whalers have been a top-four seed in Class M, L or LL.
		6. TRUMBULL			15-3	348	7	LL
Last week: def. Warde 53-40, Wilton 58-36. This week: at Danbury, Mon. 7; vs Greenwich, Mon. 7 Bottom Line: The average margin of victory for Cassi Barbato and the Eagles has been 27 points over the last five games. The Eagles can clinch the No. 1 seed in the FCIAC tournament with two wins and a Staples loss and a top-four seed in Class LL by winning the final two.
		7. NORWICH FREE ACADEMY			16-4	290	4	LL
Last week: def. Woodstock Academy 56-25, lost Bacon Academy 53-52. This week: ECC D-I tournament, Thur. vs TBA. Bottom Line: NFA missed a shot at the buzzer, falling to Bacon. Still, the team clinched a share of the ECC D-I regular season title in coach Courtney Gomez’ first season in charge. The Falcons need losses by Newtown or Trumbull to get a top-four seed in Class LL.
		8. HAND			17-3	253	T9	L
Last week: def. Lauralton Hall 46-24, Wilbur Cross 51-49 This week: SCC tournament, Thur. vs TBA. Bottom Line: The Tigers have won nine in-a-row closing the season, a far cry from the four in-a-row they lost closing last season. They enter the SCC tournament as the No. 1 seed and are close to clinching a top-four seed in Class L.
		9. BERLIN			17-2	224	T9	MM
Last week: def. Middletown 64-62, East Catholic 45-39, Platt 56-29. This week: vs Plainville, Mon. 6:45; CCC tournament, Thur. vs TBA. Bottom Line: Nine points separate the Redcoats from an undefeated season. If they beat Plainville (7-12), they will be the No. 1 seed in the Class MM tournament a season after going 12-8.
		10. SHEEHAN			17-3	210	NR	MM
Last week: def. West Haven 67-54, Mercy 48-29 This week: SCC tournament, Thur. vs TBA. Bottom Line: Caitlyn Hunt and the Titans closed the season with 9-straight wins, locking up a top-four seed and home-court advantage in the Class MM tournament.
Dropped out: Southington (9). Records through Saturday, Feb. 15 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.
Others receiving votes: Bacon Academy (16-3), 157; Canton (18-2), 143; St Paul (18-2), 121; Norwalk (14-4), 91; Southington (15-4), 67; Stamford (14-4), 64; East Catholic (14-4), 47; Danbury (13-4), 40; Wethersfield (15-4), 39; Sacred Heart Academy (15-3), 25; East Hampton (17-1), 20; Bloomfield (15-3), 15; East Hartford (12-7), 11; Nonnewaug (16-2), 8; Windsor (14-4), 7.
The following voted:Lori Riley, Hartford Courant; Scott Ericson, GametimeCT; Mike Madera, Walter Camp Foundation/New Haven Register; Dave Phillips, Shoreline Newspapers; Dave Ruden, The Ruden Report; Jimmy Zanor, Norwich Bulletin; Tim Jensen, Patch; Scotty Nails RCDS; Brian Medeiros, Canton; Vickie Fulkerson, The New London Day; Fred Williams, Northwestern; Rick Wilson, Waterbury Republican American; Sean Krofssik, Record-Journal; Ryan Chichester, Bristol Press; Rich Zalusky, The Chronicle; Dave Danko, Fairfield Warde; Adam Betz, Journal Inquirer Poll compiled by Scott Ericson