New London Slams Way Into ECC Final

It was a bizarre night at New London High's Conway Gymnasium for the Eastern Connecticut Conference boys' basketball semifinals.

The "undercard" of No. 7 seed Stonington versus No. 6 seed Waterford featured all the ingredients of a championship game: fierce competition, a loud, boisterous crowd on both sides and a last-second game-winning shot by SHS' Will DeFanti in a 60-59 Bears' victory.

It was an instant classic.

The nightcap featured the state's No. 1 team, New London, versus No. 5 seed Plainfield. The Whalers pressed and pounded Plainfield relentlessly for leads of 31-11 after one quarter and 69-28 lead at halftime. It was so uncompetitive, at least half of the 1,500 in attendance left the building before the third quarter of New London's eventual 96-56 rout that didn't seem that close.

Getting home to catch the second half of American Idol outranked watching the No. 1 ranked Whalers in the second half Wednesday.

Can Stonington (18-5) make the ECC Final 7 p.m. Friday at New London (22-0) a contest or will the Stonington-Waterford prelim stand as the tournament's magic moment? Or will the crowds walking out on the Whalers serve an an impetus for New London.

Stonington is the only team to beat New London for half a game, holding a 20-16 last month against the Whalers, who came back to win 51-38. The Bears used their three-man weave to control the clock, negating New London's major size and speed advantage.

"We're the only team in the area that can hang with them," DeFanti said. "I think we're the smarter team. I think we were too complacent leading them at halftime, thinking it was a victory in itself. If we come out with the same chip on our shoulder for the whole game that we had in the first half then, we'll see."

New London coach Craig Parker respects Stonington, calling them "a team not without talent.

"They controlled the tempo in the first half until we counteracted that with our defense. There is no shot clock, so teams are going to do what they have to do to try and beat us."

Parker expects to see similar slow-down offenses in the early rounds of the Class L state playoffs, which begin next week. Plainfield (15-7) never had a chance to control tempo, struggling to get the ball past halfcourt against the Whaler press, which stayed on for much of three quarters.

Whaler guard Kris Dunn nearly compiled an inhuman quadruple double with 28 points, 1o rebounds, nine assists and seven steals. Torin Child-Harris added 21 points. Dunn and Child-Harris provided highlight reel material with two slam dunks each as did forward Keith Porter. About the only negative was Dunn fouling out late in the third quarter.

New London has made seven straight ECC Finals, winning all aside from Fitch in 2004 and NFA in 2008. Parker has never valued winning the ECC Tournament as a major goal, putting all of his eggs in the state tournament title pursuit basket.

The Whalers open Class L play March 10 in a second round game against the Wilby-  Avon winner. Believe it or not, they are the No. 3 seed because Class L has the state's only three undefeated teams with Northwest Catholic and Maloney joining the Whalers.

Stonington projects as a contender in Class M, opening at home March 7 against Bloomfield. The Bears won't face anyone tougher than New London.

"This is what we want, we know what is ahead of us because New London is the state's best team, but the kids are excited about it," Stonington coach Mike Reyes said. "We walk into this gym and are excited to play.

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