Northwest Catholic, the No. 4 team in the NH Register Top 10 preseason poll, beat No. 6 Wilbur Cross 52-38 in the Doc Hurley Classic Saturday at Weaver High.
Cross (2-1) scored just 17 points in the second half, showing the affects of having played Friday night, a win at Hamden. Still, the Governors got exposed against a better team.
When it comes time for the state tournament, teams have to value the basketball, to make good on almost every possession. Cross committed way too many turnovers and struggled in the rebounding department. Northwest did a better job in the half-court set.
The matchup between the two best players, Kuran Iverson from N-West and Gerald McClease of Cross, was almost a draw (Iverson unofficially had 19 points, McClease 16).
Cross faces Hillhouse on Tuesday and at Westhill on Dec. 27 in Westhill's Christmas tournament. The Govs will need to be better in both categories (less turnovers, better rebounding) to win either of those two games.
The Govs can make some of the same mistakes they made on Saturday and get away with it against most of their SCC opponents, but when it gets to the state tournament, they won't. Not in Class LL.

More than likely, the Academics will. Cheshire gets to play an angry Hillhouse group after the top-ranked Academics lost to Career 63-58 in the season opener on Wednesday.
Wilbur Cross plays at Hamden tonight, then travels to Weaver High on Saturday to face Northwest Catholic at 1 p.m. in a Doc Hurley Classic tripleheader. That is followed by Prince Tech vs. Clasical Magnet at 4 p.m., then Windsor vs. Glastonbury at 6.
Tonight's games in the Doc Hurley is highlighted by Bulkeley vs. Bloomfield at 6:30, also at Weaver. That is also the same time for the NVL battle of Holy Cross at Wilby.

Career spoiled the head coaching debut of Hillhouse coach Renard Sutton as the Panthers upset the Academics 63-58 at the New Haven Athletic Center Wednesday night.
Kevin Hoff had 21 points for the Panthers, who led 63-41 at halftime, then withstood a run by the Academics, whow ere led by Freddie Wilson's 16 points. Problem was no one else reached double figures.
I'd be willing to bet Career coach Larry Kelley had his guys very motivated. They needed look no further than Wednesday's Register to see Hillhouse ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll. This is the first time Career beat Hillhouse since 2004.
The underlying story here are a handful of Kelley's players from last year who transferred to other schools, including Drew Crudup, who played for Hillhouse Wednesday, scoring seven points.
Hillhouse will need to rebound pretty quick - the first of two games agiainst Wilbur Cross is Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Athletic Center.

In another game, No. 2 New London beat Stratford 67-61 in a rematch of last year's final, won by Stratford. This was the back end of a home-and-home series with Stratford beating New London in last year's season opener. New London showed already why it has the state's best backcourt - Torin Childs-Harris and Kriss Dunn combined for 51 points. Tommy Bajda had 28 to lead Stratford.

The NH Register's boys basketball page has returned for a second year. It will have each story written about boys basketball this season kept on the site throughout the season. It will also include the weekly poll, the preseason capsules and top 25 players and some video.

The site is www.nhregister.com/boyshoops

The Register's boys' basketball preseason issue will be in Wednesday's edition. It will include area capsules, conference previews, preseason poll and a feature on the Farnam Neighborhood House in New Haven.

If you want an early peak at the preseason hoop poll, click here.