Boys Basketball Tournament Rolls On

The state tournament can make for some long bus rides but not sure many will be longer than the one the Tolland boys took Friday night, traveling down to Redding to meet Joel Barlow in the opening game of CIAC Class M tournament.

The ride is 78.2 miles one way and should take 1 hour and 31 minutes observing all state and local traffic laws. No doubt the ride back must have been longer.

The Eagles lost 58-56, which has to be doubly disappointing since they would have a solid chance to upset No. 2 seed Nonnewaug-Woodbury Monday night. (A mere 67.7 miles trip.)

But the tournament rolls on and in Class LL there is an intriguing first round meeting between Xavier-Middletown and Manchester. Both teams losses were to quality opponents, including Glastonbury, so look for a tight, tough game.

Manchester (13-7) was no doubt hoping for a better draw. If the Indians do beat Xavier, a well-coached team with a winter's worth of experience against top opponents, their reward is a trip to Windsor (10.8 miles). So Kavohn Townsend, Enrique Lugo and Andrew Isaacs and the gang have their work cut out for them.

Windsor, which finished the regular-season at 19-1 (the CIAC does not count post-season conference tournaments), is hoping to make a run at another state title. The Warriors quest does not contain an easy game. The Manchester-Xavier winner will be capable and looking beyond on that is a likely meeting with Holy Cross-Waterbury (18-1) in the rugged Naugatuck Valley League.

The Warriors have won 22 straight games after winning the CCC Tournament last week with impressive back-to-back wins against Northwest Catholic-West Hartford and Maloney-Meriden. The Warriors, who were led by Jared Wilson Frame and Nasean Banks in the title game, but are versatile and defensive-minded, which will make them a tough out.

In Class L, E.O. Smith begins play with Fairfield Ludlowe on Tuesday. Fairfield (9-11), which will actually travel farther than Tolland had to (86 miles), has an unimpressive record but that should not lull the Panthers into a false confidence. Fairfield's losses are all to big schools with solid resumes and it is excellent in close games. Fairfield is 6-1 in games decided by five points or fewer.

E.O. Smith will need a solid game form senior point guard Min Lin. A few threes from sophomore shooting sensation Carter Chatey wouldn't hurt.

If the Panthers do get the win, Northwest Catholic will be waiting for them.

Cheney Tech (14-8) will host Branford in the first round on Tuesday in a game played at East Catholic, with Lyman Hall-Wallingford awaiting the winner. Cyrus James, Leon Elmore and Andrew Rose are part of the reason the Beavers have made it this far and will need to be the reason they adavnce.

The over-stuffed Class M tournament, 34 teams qualified, eliminated the possibility of a first round bye for Enfield but that might not be bad news. The Raiders, the NCCC champs, should be able to handle first-round opponent Norwich Tech, although, obviously, coach Cory O'Connell can't afford to think that way.

But with a potential rematch against Cromwell, which defeated Enfield in overtime in the tournament a year ago, looming it might be best if Tre Preston and the gang had something to occupy their mind. The Raiders victory in the NCCC Tournament, especially in the semifinals against Granby, should be heartening.

In that game, the Bears had an answer for Preston and limited him to five points through 22 minutes. And yet, Enfield was still in the game so when Preston exploded for 11 straight points it was enough to lift them to victory.

Credit goes to Paul Lima and Hugh Lindo, who stepped into the void created by the Bears' double-teaming of Preston. The Raiders will need such contributions if they want to win a state championship.

Suffield (11-9) could not have started with a more difficult task. The Wildcats open the tournament at Weaver-Hartford. The Beavers may be the best No. 9 seed in any bracket this season and Eddie Danek and his teammates will need a near-perfect effort for victory.

As for Ellington (11-9), the Knights travel to Hyde Leadership Academy in New Haven (47 miles), for their first round game. Zack Graves and Dan Schofer will need to be ready for Hyde's difficult mix of high-speed bursts mixed with deliberate offensive sets.

The Class S tournament is usually the most wide-open of the four classes. Windsor Locks (15-5), the No. 4 seed, hosts Thomaston on Tuesday with a potential meeting against either Coginchaug-Durham or Coventry on Thursday.

Point guard Tim Putnam has been Windsor Locks main scoring threat all season but he is getting help from Taylor Gorzkowski and Donovin Ford-Hayes. The trio makes a gimmick defense (triangle-and-two, box-and-one) difficult to execute so a team hoping to upset the Raiders will likely have to do it straight up.

Somers (13-7) opens at home against Westbrook (11-9) on Tuesday. Westbrook has beaten the teams it is supposed to beat this season but has been overwhelmed in other games. Somers will rely, as it has all season, on point guard Evan Woicik to distribute, score and defend.

If Somers makes it through the first round Classical Magnet awaits.