Sports
Darien Seventh Grade Boys Travel Team Advances To FCBL Title Game
Your interactive daily digest for all Darien scores, schedules and standings -- and a place to add information and photos for all youth sports
1. Darien YMCA team advances to FCBL championhip game
The Darien YMCA’s seventh grade boys A travel team is attempting to end their season where they started it, winning the area’s most prestigious tournament.
They earned a spot in next weekend’s Fairfield County Basketball League’s top division championship game with a 64-61 win over Greenwich in the semifinals.
Find out what's happening in Darienfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
On the first weekend of December, Darien captured the preseason Joe Coppo Memorial Tournament with a 4-0 run over Newtown, Wilton, Greenwich and Westport.
The postseason Fairfield County Basketball League Tournament is a higher mountain to climb.
Find out what's happening in Darienfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
First, Darien had to earn a selection into in the eight-team AA field from a possible field of 42 seventh grade teams. Included in that 42 are travel teams from every town in Fairfield County. On Saturday, Darien demolished No. 2 seed Danbury (23-3) 60-44, earning the right to face the No. 3 seed and 22- game winner Greenwich on Sunday.
Both Darien wins featured 10 player-deep contributions. Coach Shawn Grant forced the opponents to decipher an ever-changing variety of defenses and personnel combinations. Jackson Ryan and Joe Hardison were defensive bulldogs on the ball handlers. Alex Preston and Casey Brown were outstanding shot blockers as the last line of defense men. Jack Farren, Charlie Sealy and Riley Stewart showed great instincts and athleticism in their ball hawking rotations. Charlie Wright, Will Stevens and Carter Scott showed the ability to play at an excellent level in both man-to-man and multiple zone defenses. The rebounding edge was Darien’s. Wright, Preston and Brown have proven to prove among the area’s best in that extra-possession-winning category.
The scoring goes wide and deep on this squad. Against Greenwich, Ryan and Preston were the leaders with 13 each. Ryan, Stevens and Hardison went six for six from beyond the three point line. Sealy lit up Greenwich’s attempts at man-to-man defense, scoring 10. Wright and Brown both muscled their way to eight points each. Preston, Ryan, Scott and Sealy shot a critical 8 for 10 from the free throw line. Those makes were key as Greenwich attempted late-game intentional fouling, as a means to getting the ball back quickly.
The AA championship game will be next Saturday at 6pm at the neutral site of Pomeraug High School in Southbury. Darien will face 19-1 Fairfield, which defeated Darien 69-60 in a February 4 regular season meeting, but Greenwich and Danbury also had both previously beaten Darien in their regular season match-ups.
The Fairfield team is coached by Billy Lovett, who has led both St Luke's and Weston High to varsity league championships in his career.
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2. Darien, New Canaan hockey teams to meet yet again
Get set for Round IV.
The New Canaan and boys hockey team will meet for a fourth and final time this season in the first round of the Division I state tournament
The fifth-seeded Blue Wave (15-5) will host the No. 12 Rams (12-7-1) on Wednesday at the Darien Ice Rink. Darien has won two of the
first three meetings with their archrivals, including a 5-2 victory in the FCIAC semifinals last week.
The winner of the game will take on either No.4 Glastonbury (16-4-0) or No. 13 Simsbury (11-8-1) in the quarterfinals on Monday.
If the New Canaan-Darien winner gets past the quarterfinal, a date with top seed and defending state champion Fairfield Prep is looming in the quarterfinals.
Last year, Darien took the Jesuits to overtime in the first round before falling, 2-1. New Canaan lost to St. Joseph 6-5 in the semifinals after going undefeated to that point.
Notre Dame of West Haven (16-3-1) is the No. 2 seed and Ridgefield (18-2), which faced Darien in the FCIAC championship game on Saturday, is the No. 3 seed.
Darien lost to Ridgefield 3-2 in the FCIAC tier one finals on Saturday night at the Terry Conners Rink.
FRIDAY'S RESULTS
No games scheduled
SATURDAY'S RESULTS
Boys hockey
Ridgefield 3, Darien 2, FCIAC tier one finals
MONDAY'S SCHEDULE
No games scheduled
STANDINGS
BOYS BASKETBALL
West Division
FCIAC Record
Overall Record
Westhill* 13-5 14-7 Danbury* 10-8 12-9 Bridgeport Central* 10-8 12-9 Greenwich 9-9 11-9 Trumbull 9-9 10-10 Staples 8-10 9-11Central Division
FCIAC Record
Overall Record
Ridgefield* 13-5 15-6 Stamford* 11-7 12-9 Fairfield Ludlowe 9-9 9-11 Norwalk 8-10 10-10 McMahon 4-14 4-16 Harding 3-15 4-16East Division
FCIAC Record
Overall Record
St. Joseph* 18-0 20-1 Trinity Catholic* 14-4 17-6 Bassick* 13-5 18-5 Fairfield-Warde 9-9 11-9 Wilton 8-10 10-10 Darien 1-17 2-18 New Canaan 1-17 2-18GIRLS BASKETBALL
West Division
FCIAC Record
Overall Record Danbury* 18-0 25-0 Trumbull* 15-3 20-5 Staples 11-7 13-9 Westhill 10-8 10-11 Greenwich 4-14 4-16 Bridgeport Central 1-16 2-17Central Division
Norwalk* 13-5 16-7 Stamford* 11-7 12-11 Fairfield Ludlowe 7-11 8-13 Ridgefield 7-11 7-13 McMahon 3-15 3-17 Harding 2-15 4-15East Division
St. Joseph* 15-3 18-5 Wilton* 13-5 15-8 Trinity Catholic* 12-6 14-9 Darien* 11-7 12-10 Fairfield Warde 10-8 12-9 New Canaan 8-10 10-11 Bassick 0-18 0-20BOYS HOCKEY
East Division FCIAC Record FCIAC Points Overall Record Darien* 11-1 22 14-5-0 Ridgefield* 11-1 20 18-2-0 St. Joseph* 9-3 18 14-7-0 New Canaan* 8-4 16 13-7-1 Wilton* 8-4 16 10-11-0 Trinity Catholic* 8-4 16 9-12-0 Stamford 4-8 8 6-17-1 West Division FCIAC Record FCIAC Points Overall Record Fairfield 7-5 14 9-12-0 Westhill 5-7 10 6-12-2 Trumbull 4-8 8 12-9-0 Staples 2-10 4 8-11-0 Greenwich 1-11 2 3-17-0 Norwalk/McMahon 0-12 0 2-18-0Girls Hockey
Teams FCIAC Record FCIAC Pts Overall Record New Canaan* 14-0 28 21-1 Ridgefield* 10-3-1 21 13-6-1 Greenwich* 10-4 20 12-5-1 Darien* 9-4-1 19 11-6-1 Fairfield 4-9 8 6-10-0 Wilton 4-9 8 5-11-1 Staples-Trumbull 3-11 6 6-12-0 Stamford 0-14 0 1-14-0
