Notre Dame-Fairfield’s Ciara Brown (15) drives through Pomperaug’s Cara McGettigan (2) and Jada Stietzel (21) in the girls basketball game between Notre Dame-Fairfield and Pomperaug high schools, Friday night, January 17, 2020, at Pomberaug High School, Southbury, Conn.
Notre Dame-Fairfield holds steady as the unanimous No. 1 and they’re about to face the state’s No. 2 team.
With New London losing to South Kingstown (RI), 74-45, enough voters saw fit to bump up Newtown, Notre Dame-Fairfield’s SWC rival, to the No. 2 spot.
They did so just in time as the Nighthawks play host to the No. 1 Lancers Thursday night.
NOTEBOOK: STAPLES MAKING MOVES, WEST HAVEN BUILDING
This marks the second-straight season No. 1 and No. 2 have played in the middle of the regular season after Norwalk and New London played each other last season.
NFA (9) and Staples (8) both join the Top 10 after knocking off ranked teams last week.
WEEK’S FINE PERFORMERS / GAMES TO WATCH (JAN. 19)
Trumbull and Shelton missed the Top 10 by just one point. The CCC and the FCIAC tied with three teams each in the poll.
This coming week, several teams in the Top 10 will be facing their toughest stretches of schedule. That could lead to a shake-up seen days from now.
| TEAM (1st place votes) | REC | PTS | LAST | CLASS |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 1. NOTRE DAME-FAIRFIELD (17) | 8-0 | 510 | 1 | L | |||
| Last week: def. vs Stratford 65-18, Pomperaug 69-60 This week: at Bunnell, Tue. 7; at Newtown, Thur. 7; at Hudson Catholic (NJ), Sat. 12 Bottom Line: Lancers get their biggest test of the season this week in No. 2 Nighthawks. |
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 | 2. NEWTOWN | 8-1 | 462 | 4 | LL | |||
| Last week: def. vs Stratford 65-18, Pomperaug 69-60 This week: vs Barlow, Tue. 5; vs Notre Dame-Fairfield, Thur. 7 Bottom Line: All eyes will be on Newtown Thursday night. Can the Nighthawks knock off No. 1? |
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 | 3. NEW LONDON | 9-2 | 382 | 2 | LL | |||
| Last week: lost South Kingstown 74-45 This week: at NFA, Tue. 7; vs Stonington, Fri. 7 Bottom Line: Out of state loss to unbeaten South Kingstown mattered little in the minds of voters. |
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 | 4. NEWINGTON | 9-1 | 372 | 9 | L | |||
| Last week: def. Bulkeley/Weaver 54-32, East Catholic 50-49. This week: at Sheehan, Mon. 2; at Wethersfield, Fri. 6:45. Bottom Line: Toughest week of the season awaits with two challenging road contests. |
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 | 5. NORWALK | 7-2 | 308 | 3 | LL | |||
| Last week: lost Staples 43-35, Trinity Catholic 51-46 This week: at St. Joseph, Tue.7; at Bridgeport Central, Fri. 5:30 Bottom Line: Bears stay in the top 10 despite taking a loss to Staples. |
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 | 6. EAST CATHOLIC | 9-1 | 293 | 6 | MM | |||
| Last week: def. RHAM 62-48, lost Newington 50-49 This week: vs Conard, Tue, 6:45; vs South Windsor, Fri. 6:45 Bottom Line: East Catholic holds steady after losing heartbreaker to Newington. |
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 | 7. STAMFORD | 8-1 | 246 | 5 | LL | |||
| Last week: lost Greenwich 54-49, New Canaan 43-33 This week: vs Trumbull, Tue. 7; vs Darien, Fri. 7 Bottom Line: Black Knights get knocked from ranks of unbeatens but not from the poll. |
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 | 8. STAPLES | 8-2 | 179 | NR | LL | |||
| Last week: def. Norwalk 43-35, lost Trumbull 44-40 This week: vs Warde, Tue. 7; at Greenwich, Fri. 7 Bottom Line: Arianna Gerig and Wreckers make their debut in the poll. |
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 | 9. NORWICH FREE ACADEMY | 7-2 | 166 | NR | LL | |||
| Last week: def. Glastonbury 58-52; East Lyme 52-34 This week: vs New London, Tue. 7; vs RHAM, Wed. 7; vs Bacon Academy, Fri. 7 Bottom Line: NFA knocks off previous No. 10 Glastonbury, jumps into the top 10. |
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 | 10. SOUTHINGTON | 10-1 | 151 | NR | LL | |||
| Last week: def. Avon 38-27; Platt 52-17 This week: vs Capital Prep, Tue. 6:45; vs Northwest Catholic, Thur. 6:45 Bottom Line: 8 wins in-a-row for the Blue Knights. |
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| Dropped out: Berlin (7), Hand (8), Glastonbury (10). Records through Saturday, Jan. 18 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: Trumbull (8-2), 150; Shelton (10-1), 150; Wilbur Cross (9-2), 147; Bacon Academy (10-0), 126; Berlin (9-1), 120; Hand (8-3), 106; Wethersfield (10-1), 101; Sheehan (8-2), 92; Glastonbury (9-2), 71; Canton (10-2), 69; Pomperaug (6-3), 40; Greenwich (7-3), 26; St Joseph (9-1), 22; East Hampton (9-0), 19; St Paul (9-2), 10; E.O. Smith (8-3), 9; Sacred Heart Academy (8-2), 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 |
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