Let's get the crystal ball out to see how the matchups will go Monday and Tuesday:

Class LL - Monday

No. 1 Bridgport Central vs. No. 8 New Britain at New Haven Athletic Center, 6 p.m.: Darius Watson needs to have a big game for the Hurricanes to pull the upset. But Central appears to be on a mission to win it all - Central by 12.
No. 4 Sacred Heart vs. No. 12 Harding at New Haven Athletic Center, 7:45 p.m.: A great doubleheader with maybe the best player in the state, Sacred Heart's Josh Turner, trying to carry the Hearts to the semifinals. Fellow senior forward Corey Andrews will need to be healthy to help break Harding's full-court pressure defense. If the Hearts can, they will win - Sacred Heart.

No. 2 St. Joseph vs. No. 7 East Hartford at East Haven, 7 p.m. - The matchup in the pivot between Jakarri McCallop of East Hartford and Oscar Assie of St. Joes should be interesting. Greg Langston and Timajh Parker need to be productive for the Cadets, but the key is East Hartford point guard Anthony Jernigan being able to break the Cadets' trapping defense. I think he will do just fine. - East Hartford in an upset.

No. 3 Hillhouse vs. No. 6 Windsor - Hillhouse doesn;t see too many teams attempting to trap them, but Windsor will throughout. It will be up to Freddie Wilson and his fellow guards to be able to break it and get to the rim instead of launching threes - Hillhouse by 4.

Class L semifinals - Tuesday
No. 1 Stratford vs. No. 12 Wilbur Cross at Fairfield Warde, 7 p.m.: Don't let the seedings fool you. Cross has qon 11 of 12 to get here and is very, very dangerous behind Ed Murray and Gerald McClease. This is the most athletic team Stratford has faced since New London in the season opener. But Stratford is very steady behind guards Russell Payton and Jason Charles and one of the state's best big men in Brandon Sherrod - Stratford.
No. 2 New London vs. No. 3 Bristol Eastern at New Haven Athletic Center, 7 p.m.:  Bristol Eastern was one of the top teams in the CCC. New London has won 24 straight games coming in. Make it 25 - New London by 5.

Class M quarterfinals Monday
No. 1 Nonnewaug vs. No. 8 Sheehan at Kennedy, 7 p.m.: Nonnewaug is one of three undefeated teams left and has gotten little respect around the state. It's been awhile since Sheehan has risen up and beaten a team better in the Class M field. Maybe this is the time - Sheehan at the buzzer.
No. 4 Cromwell vs. No. 5 Enfield at Manchester, 7 p.m. - Enfield is one of the better teams no one knows much about. Cromwell won Class last year and is trying to make another run. - Cromwell
No. 2 Abbott Tech vs. No. 10 Granby at Thomaston, 7 p.m. - Too much athleticism for Graby to handle as Abbott Tech returns to the semifinals - Abbott.
No. 3 Bloomfield vs. No. 11 Law at Maloney, 7 p.m.: It's been a long time since Law has reached the quarterfinals. Unfortunately for the Lawmen, the runs ends Monday - Bloomfield by 18.

Class S semifinals Tuesday
No. 1 Hyde vs. No. 4 Valley Regional at CCSU, 6 p.m.: Rematch of the Shoreline Conference game won by Hyde in overtime last month. That game was at Valley. Can the Warriors put up another effort against one of the state's best? - Hyde.
No. 6 Windsor Locks vs. No. 10 Prince Tech at CCSU, 7:45 p.m.: Prince Tech pulled a stunner Friday night, ousting Kolbe Cathedral. Prince Tech doesn;t see it as an upset. Either way, the CSC has been underrated this year - Prince Tech.

In Class L, top-seeded Stratford will face No. 12 Wilbur Cross Tuesday night at Fairfield Warde High at 7 p.m. In the other semi, No. 2 New London plays No. 3 Bristol Eastern at the New Haven Athletic Center, also at 7.

There is a doublehader at Central Connecticut State in Class S: Top-seeded Hyde faces Shoreline Conference foe and No. 4 Valley Regional square off at 6 p.m., followed by No. 6 Windsor Locks vs. No. 10 Prince Tech at 7:45.

Class LL went pretty much according to form. Central buried Torrington 75-48 and New Britain edged Holy Cross 52-49. Those two will mee in the quarterfinals on Monday. No sites or times have ben determined yet for any games.
Sacred Heart held off a late rally by Hamden to win 60-56. The Hearts will play Harding, a 66-51 winner over Newington, in the quarterfinals. Harding is the only double-digit seed to advance this far.
St. Joseph (over Crosby) and East Hartford (over East Catholic) both won by the identical score, 73-63. The two clubs face one another it what should be an interesting matchup in the pivot between East Hartford's Jakarri McCallop and the St. Joseph duo of Timajh Parker and Oscar Assie.
In the bottom bracket, Hillhouse advanced past Trumbull 64-50 and Windsor eliminated Notre Dame-West Haven for the second straight year, this time 82-53. Hillhouse and Windsor will meet on Monday.

In Class M, Seymour dispatched SMSA 55-41 and will face undefeated Nonnewaug 81-55 in the quarterfinals. Cromwell, a winner in OT over Ellington, will face Enfield in another Monday quarterfinal.
In the bottom half of the bracket, Law beat Cheney Tech 59-47 to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time in quite awhile. The Lawmen's reward? Playing the odds-on favorite to win the title, Bloomfield, whoch dispatched Trinity Catholic 75-53.
Abbott Tech and Granby will play in the other quarterfinal.

Hamden has a legitimate shot to stay close against Sacred Heart on the road in the Class LL second round. The Green Dragons need to attack and crash the boards and, somehow, keep Josh Turner and Corey Andrews from going crazy.
What Hamden really needs, besides some good defense, is someone to score other than Ryen Vilmont. If that happens, then Hamden could be primed for the upset.
In other action, Notre Dame-West Haven will try to avenge its loss to Windsor in last year's LL quarterfinals. Windsor, the defending champion, hosts Notre Dame, which put up 92 points against Bulkeley in the opening round.
ND point guard Sean Dempsey will once again be counted upon to break the Warriors' pressure defense.
Hillhouse hosts Trumbull and St. Joseph hosts Crosby, the reigning NVL champion for the seventh straight year.

In Class M, Seymour takes on top-seeded Nonnewaug, one of the state's three undefeated teams, in Woodbury in the second round. The Wildcats should have some confidence after seeing Immaculate almost knock off Nonnewaug in the first round.
The winner gets either Sheehan or Sport Sciences. That game will be played in Wallingford. Sheehan needs to be careful because SMSA has hung tough against several teams this year, including unbeaten Stratford.
Law is the only other area team in the division, traveling to face Cheney Tech at Prince Tech. Cheney will have to try and figure out how to slow down Kyle Wiggins, the leading scorer in the area.
An intriguing matchup has Trinity Catholic playing at Bloomfield. Trinity will try to slow the pace down and get a lead late against one of the state's best teams.

In Class L, Wilbur Cross pulled off a seeded upset as the 12th-seeded Governors knocked off fifth-seeded East Lyme on the road 74-59. Cross will now face Kennedy, a 58-46 winner over higher-seeded E.O. Smith, in Friday's quarterfinals at East Catholic High.

No. 10 Branford did what North Haven could not - beat Wilby to the tune of 72-52 at home. The Hornets, now at 17-5, face No. 2 New London Friday at Maloney. Top-seeded Stratford remained undefeated by pounding Pomperaug 63-41. The Red Devils face No. 9 Avon in the quarterfinals Friday at Kennedy.

In Class S, Hyde also stayed unbeaten, throttling Morgan 78-48. The Howling Wolves get Ansonia in the quarterfinals Friday night at Woodland.
No. 4 Valley Regional hammered Terryville 65-41 and will face St. Paul, a seeded upset winner over No. 5 Coginchaug 60-55. That game will be Friday at Rocky Hill.

No. 2 Kolbe Cathedral eliminated Old Lyme, but Capital Prep reached the quarterfinals for the seocnd straight year, beating No. 3 Litchfield 55-50.

Second-round games for Class LL and M are Thursday.

Top-seeded Stratford opens play tonight at home against Pomperaug, which almost beat the Red Devils in Stratford during the regular season.
In other Class L action, Branford hosts Wilby, which eliminated North Haven, the SCC champion, in the opening round on  Monday. Also, Wilbur Cross makes the trip to East Lyme to take on the Vikings.

In Class S, Hyde opens up play with a game against Shoreline Conference foe Morgan at Wilbur Cross. Ansonia travels to New Britain to take on Goodwin Tech. If the Chargers win, they likely would face Hyde in Friday's quarterfinals at a site and time to be determined.
Two other Shoreline teams, Valley Regional and Coginchaug, face Terryville and St. Paul, respectively.

There were only two seeded upsets of note in Class LL:

No. 20 Hamden beat No. 13 Xavier for the third time this season, this time 63-59 in Middletown in double overtime. Hamden now plays at No. 4 Sacred Heart on Thursday.
No. 28 Newington upended No. 5 Newtown, the SWC runner-up, 57-48. Now Newington travels to Bridgeport Thursday to face Harding in the second round.
No. 11 Notre Dame-West Haven scored 92 points against Bulkeley, ousting last year's Class L champion 92-84. Tom Doyle, Dave Rose and Sean Dempsey all scored over 20 points for the Green Knightsm who will travek to Windsor to face the sixth-seeded Warriots in the second round. Windsor eliminated Notre Dame in last year's quarterfinals en route to the LL championship.
No. 3 Hillhouse prevailed over Simsbury and will host Trumbull on Thursday. Crosby travels to St. Joseph for a nice second-round game.

In Class M, area teams Seymour (over Waterford), Sheehan (over Bullard-Havens) and Law (over Weston) all advanced to Thursday's second round. Seymour gets top-seeded and undefeated Nonnewaug at Woodbury, Sheehan hosts Sports Sciences and Law travels to Manchester to take on Cheney Tech.

Class L and S second-round games resume today. You can catch all the matchups on our own ciac brackets at:
www.nhregister.com/hsbrackets

North Haven, the reigning SCC champion, was outscored 17-4 in the final quarter by No. 26 Wilby, which upset the seventh-seeded Indians 58-53 Monday night in a Class L opening-round game.
Kennedy eliminated Lyman Hall 62-44 and Bassick did the same thing to Career 57-49.
Two other SCC teams, Branford and Wilbur Cross, did move on. Branford pulled away in the second half to eliminate Platt Tech 46-30 while Cross beat RHAM 75-52. Branford will now host Wilby Wednesday night while Cross travels to East Lyme to take on the Vikings.
In other Class L action, Evan Kelley, the son of former UConn and Cross standout Earl Kelley, hit a three-point shot at the buzzer to help Norwalk win at Maloney 65-64.
In Class S, Morgan advanced past Wamogo 68-65 in overtime. The Huskies' reward? Travel to Wilbur Cross to face top-seeded Hyde. Ansonia eliminated North Branford 71-64, Coginchaug beat University 85-59 and St. Paul, a semifinalist here last year, beat Westbrook 57-49.

The brackets have been updated at
www.nhregister.com/hsbrackets

Class L and S open this evening. Highlighting the docket is the reigning Southern Connecticut Conference champion, North Haven, opening as the No. 7 seed in the Class L division. The Indians host No. 26 Wilby at 7 p.m.
Also in Class L is No. 22 Career traveling to No. 11 Bassick, No. 23 Platt Tech at No. 10 Branford, No. 20 Lyman Hall at No. 13 Kennedy and No. 21 RHAM at No. 12 Wilbur Cross.

In Class S: No. 16 Morgan hosts No. 17 Wamogo with the winner getting top-seeded Hyde. No. 5 Coginchaug hosts University and No. 21 Westbrook travels to Bristol to face St. Paul.

follow along late at night with our own brackets at:

www.nhregister.com/hsbrackets

The state tournament is here, ladies and gentlemen.

In Sunday's edition, you can read about Hillhouse point guard Freddie Wilson and view an interesting video of yours truly attempting to practice with the Academics despite being more than double their age.

Here is the link:
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/03/07/sports/7_freddie_wilson.txt

In Monday's print edition of the Register, you will find 10 things to look for and five players to watch for the state tournament. Also Monday will be my predictions for the four brackets, which you can follow along throughout the next two weeks at www.nhregister.com/hsbrackets.

Lastly, the up-to-date poll, standings and scoring leaders will be in Monday's print edition. If you cannot wait that long, the poll and updated area scoring leaders can be found at www.nhregister.com/boyshoops.

Good luck to everyone.