FINAL
Bridgeport Central wins the Class LL championship with a 78-66 win over Hillhouse.

It's Central's first state title since 2003.

Sparked by defensive pressure, the Hilltoppers finished the game on a 20-3 run.

Jerome Parkins led Central with 19 points. Jerry Washington and Diontay Washington each added 17 points. Andrew Victoria had 16 points and 15 rebounds.

Freddie Wilson led Hillhouse with 20 points, but shot just 7 of 16 and had six turnovers. Tavon Allen added 14 points. Wilson, Allen and Jengodi Gates all fouled out for Hillhouse.

THIRD QUARTER

Freddie Wilson spins in the lane and finishes with a layup to cut Hillhouse's deficit to 51-48 heading into the final quarter.


HALFTIME

Bridgeport Central leads Hillhouse 33-25 at halftime.

Andrew Victoria leads the Hilltoppers with 10 points and eight rebounds. Diontay Washington and Jerry Washington each have eight.

Spencer Smith and Brian Patterson each have seven points for Hillhouse. Freddie Wilson has six, but also four turnovers.

Both teams are struggling offensively. Hillhouse is shooting 29 percent, while Bridgeport Central is shooting 32 percent.

The Hilltoppers have a 33-25 lead at halftime, building up the lead when Hillhouse point guard Freddie Wilson went to the bench with two fouls.

Bridgeport Central has a 17-12 lead over Hillhouse in the Class LL state championship final at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Tom Bajda makes second free throw with 3.4 seconds left and Stratford completes undefeated season with a 51-47 win over New London to win the Class L state title. It is the second state title in school history and makes the Red Devils 62-2 since February of 2008.

Russell Payton three-point play with 5:17 left in Class L final gives Red Devils their first lead 43-41 over New London.

New London has led the entire game and now is ahead of Stratford 36-33 at the end of the third quarter. Stratford center Brandon Sherrod still has just three points.

The 2010 New England All-Star Challenge will take place this Sunday at Blake Arena at Springfield College.

The event will feature the best players across the 6 states of New England, broken into two competitive, balanced teams based on ability, first and geography, second. Two teams will be formed from New England residents for 2 separate divisions, Public Schools and Preparatory Schools.
The event will take place from 12pm– 4pm with the schedule as follows:
noon - New England Public School All-Star Game
1:30 pm  - Dunk Contest & Three Point Shootout
2:30 pm New England Prep School All-Star Game
Here are some featured players, with ties to the following states (either hometown or school)
Josh Turner – A10, MAAC, NEC looks; (Connecticut)
Danny Lawhorn – committed to Fordham; (Connecticut)
Anthony Ireland – committed to Loyola Marymount; (Connecticut)
Dominique Langston – committed to Quinnipiac; (Connecticut)
Chris Evans – committed to Sacred Heart; (Connecticut)
Tyler Olander – Big East, ACC, etc; (Connecticut and Massachusetts)
Greg Kelley – committed to Yale; (Massachusetts)
Joe O’Shea – committed to Holy Cross; Vermont

We are down to the final day of the boys' basketball season. Here are my final thoughts on the four games being played Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Arena:

Class S: No. 1 Hyde vs. No. 10 Prince Tech, 9:30 a.m.
Analysis: Prince Tech has done well to get here, beating Kolbe Cathedral in the quarterfinals. This club won't go away and may even run with the Howling Wolves. But Hyde is on a mission and this club is just too talented, too good and too motivated to have gotten this far unscathed to go home in the finale with a loss.
Prediction: Hyde 74, Prince Tech 58

Class M: No. 3 Bloomfield vs. No. 8 Sheehan, 1:30 p.m.
Analysis: Sheehan finds itself in the same situation as Prince Tech - a decided underdog with nonthing to lose. So the Titans can play loose. If they do that, maybe they hang in. If post players Brett Biestek and Jon Songer can hold their own on the boards, and if Phil Gaetano can break free from Bloomfield's pressure defense to make shots and find those big men underneath, this will be a game late. But Bloomfield is the Central Connecticut Conference champion for a reason: the Warhawks are very, very good.
Prediction: Bloomfield 69, Sheehan 57

Class L: No. 1 Stratford vs. No. 2 New London, 6:30 p.m.
Analysis: A rematch of the season opener, won by Stratford 68-57. New London hasn't lost since and Stratford is still undefeated. New London is out for some revenge and a state championship to go along with it. This is going to be the closest game of the day. Stratford's Brandon Sherrod has been a difference-maker all season long and the center and new Gatorade State Player of the Year should do it one more time.
Prediction: Stratford 62, New London 60.

Class LL: No. 1 Bridgeport Central vs. No. 3 Hillhouse, 8:30 p.m.
Analysis: Hillhouse has done it with defense the last two games, shutting down Windsor (quarterfinals)  and St. Joseph (semifinals) in the late stages of the fourth quarter. Freddie Wilson is a master at controlling tempo, finding the open man and, if necessary, get fouled to get on the free-throw line. How he handles Bridgeport Central's full-court pressure will determine if this game is tight down the stretch. Hillhouse has to control tempo and needs to hit its 3-point shots to stay close. I think the Academics will keep it a low-scoring affair and hit some 3-pointers - but Central is the better team here and will prevail.
Prediction: Central 64, Hillhouse 57.

The Academics held St. Joseph scoreless over the final 3 minutes, 47 seconds to advance to the Class LL state championship game with a 59-47 win over the Cadets at Central Connecticut State's Detrick Gymnasium.
St. Joseph (3-4) did not have a basket over the final 6:08 of the game. The Academics scored the game's final 10 points and outscored the Cadets 23-6 in the fourth quarter.
Three blocked shots, two by Tavon Allen and the other by Mike Barnes, helped keep St. Joes out of the scoring column.

This is Hillhouse's first final since winning back-to-back state titles in 2006-07. The Academics (24-3) will face top-seeded Bridgeport Central Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena at 8:30 p.m.
The last time the Academics faced the Hilltoppers in the finals was 40 years ago, when Hillhouse beat Central 80-78.

Here are the times for this weekend's games at the Mohegan Sun Arena:

CLASS LL

No. 1 Bridgeport Central (22-1)/No. 4 Sacred Heart (20-3) winner vs. No. 2

St. Joseph (21-2)/No. 3 Hillhouse (21-2) winner, Saturday, 8:30 pm

CLASS L

No. 1 Stratford (23-0) vs. No. 2 New London (22-1), Saturday, 6:30 pm

CLASS M

No. 8 Sheehan (18-5)/No. 4 Cromwell (20-3) winner vs. No. 2 Abbott Tech

(22-1)/No. 3 Bloomfield (21-2) winner, Saturday, 1:30 pm

CLASS S

No. 1 Hyde (23-0) vs. No. 10 Prince Tech (17-7), Saturday, 9:30 a.m.

A pair of quick spurts and one last run helped Hillhouse knock out Windsor, the defending Class LL champion, 80-61 Monday night at Southington High School in the quarterfinals.
Hillhouse scored the first seven points of the first quarter and never trailed. The Academics, who hit nine 3-pointers, also scored the first eight of the third quarter. Then when Windsor closed to within five (62-57) early in the fourth quarter, Hillhouse closed out the game in a 18-4 run.
Freddie Wilson had 27 points and Tavon Allen had 22 for the Academics, who will face St. Joseph in the semifinals Wednesday night at the New Haven Athletic Center. St. Joes eliminated East Hartford.
In the other half of the LL bracket, Bridgeport Central and Sacred Heart advanced to the semis against New Britain and Harding, respectively. That game will be played at the New Haven Athletic Center Wedmesday. Both games are 7 p.m.
In Class M, Sheehan knocked Nonnewaug from the ranks of the unbeatens with a 66-49 win at Kennedy High. The Titans will face Cromwell, a double-overtime winner over Enfield, at New Britain High Wednesday.
Bloomfield smoked Law 95-66 and will face Abbott Tech in the semis at Kennedy.