Three Southern Connecticut Conference teams which were lower seeds prevailed on the road in the Class L opening round on Tuesday.
Two of those wins came against the South-West Conference. No. 26 Sheehan, which won Class M last year, came in with a 8-13 record and beat No. 7 Pomperaug 56-43 in Southbury. Pomperaug was a finalist in the SWC tournament this year. Mike Vallone led the way with 17 points for Sheehan, which will play at Kennedy in the second round Thursday.
No. 22 Hand won at No. 11 Masuk convincingly 69-49 behind Jordan Barnaby's 24 points and 12 rebounds. Now Hand gets to host a second-round game on Thursday against No. 27 East Catholic, which upset a third SWC team, Stratford, 68-65. Stratford, the No. 6 seed, was the defending champion.
The third team is No. 20 Branford, which won at No. 13 Cheney Tech 56-35. Dylan Palluzzi and Buddy Shea each had 14 points for the Hornets, who will face No. 4 Lyman Hall in a SCC second-round matchup Thursday in Wallingford.
In Class S, Coginchaug moves on, beating Coventry at home. The No. 12 seed Blue Devils will play at No. 5 Windsor Locks in Thursday's second round. Haddam-Killingworth, Old Saybrook, Westbrook and Amistad Academy all were eliminated.

Wednesday's second round features Class LL matchups Wilbur Cross at McMahon, Westhill at Hillhouse, Fairfield Prep at Crosby, Xavier at Windsor and Stamford at St. Joseph.
In Class M, Career plays Foran at Wilbur Cross, Ansonia plays at Cromwell and Notre Dame-Fairfield hosts Kaynor Tech.