It was a thrilling weekend of high school basketball and ice hockey as eleven state championships were decided in Connecticut. This included the showcase boys Class LL hoops game -- won in double overtime -- and the Division II hockey game, which ended 1:22 into overtime.
The Hillhouse-New Haven Academics boys basketball team captured its 23rd state title, turning back the gritty Weaver-Hartford Beavers 94 to 83 at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Joey Kasperzyk, Jr., who fouled out in the first overtime period, led the Academics with 26 points.
At Ingalls Rink in New Haven, senior forward Jake Fuss of Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe scored the overtime winner against the North Branford Thunderbirds, giving the Mustangs a four-to-three victory.
The Division III hockey title game was similarly tight, with Westhill-Stamford’s Nick Rich scoring the game winner with just 27.8 seconds left in regulation against the Staples/Weston/Shelton Wreckers. Rich finished with a hat trick in the Vikings’ five-to-four win.
“I can’t even explain it,” Rich said afterward. “I can’t put it into words. Winning a state championship, I can’t put it into words.”
In the Division I hockey final, the Darien Blue Wave took an early two-to-zero lead and held off Fairfield Prep four-to-two to repeat as state champions.
In girls' basketball, Capital Prep’s Desiree Elmore capped a storybook career, helping her team to a fourth consecutive state title with a 51-to-48 win against the New London Whalers in the Class L final. Elmore, who was in foul trouble late in the game, finished with eight points – enough to make her Capital Prep’s all-time leading scorer (2,029).
In the Class M girls championship, the Cromwell Panthers breezed past Notre Dame-Fairfield, 43 to 20, while the Stamford Black Knights captured their first state title with a 50-to-45 win against Greenwich in Class LL.
In the Class S final, the Canton Warriors, who had lost their three previous state title games, defeated the two-time defending champions, the Thomaston Golden Bears, 64 to 51. The Warriors’ Abigail Skinner (13 points and ten rebounds), Emily Briggs (18 points) and Margaret Treacy (25 points) combined for 56 of Canton's 64 points.
On the boys' side, the East Catholic-Manchester Eagles, led by junior guard Mike McGuirl’s 16 points, turned back the Middletown Blue Dragons 62 to 51 for the Class L title.
In the Class S final, the Immaculate-Danbury Mustangs won their first state title since 2012 with a 53-to-43 victory against the Coginchaug Blue Devils. Darrius Smith had 21 points for the Mustangs.
Mustapha Heron scored 32 points for Sacred Heart-Waterbury in a 101 to 49 rout of Notre Dame-Fairfield in the Class M title game.
Visit CPTVSports.org for complete coverage of each game and game broadcast times on CPTV Sports.
Matt Moser contributed to this report.
