There would be no letdown for the Norwalk High School girls basketball last week after coach Ricky Fuller’s Bears snatched the No. 1 ranking in the GameTimeCT Top 10 Girls Basketball Poll, which was released Jan. 30.
Coach Ricky Fuller’s Bears continued to move on in a positive manner with another pair of impressive victories to set themselves up for high seeds in postseason FCIAC and state tournaments.
The regular season in girls basketball is heading into the homestretch with most teams having either three or four games remaining, while the FCIAC boys basketball teams are a little bit beyond the midway point of their conference seasons as most of them have around six or seven games left in the 16-game conference season.
A monumental win for Norwalk’s girls basketball team occurred Jan. 26 during a No. 1-versus-No. 2 showdown when the then second-ranked Bears made the 77-mile road trip to face No. 1 New London and the Bears kept their undefeated record intact when they won a 49-47 thriller. That enabled them to leapfrog over New London into the top spot of the state poll.
And that is where the Bears will most likely remain when the next poll is released as they followed that up with a pair of home victories last week, cruising to a 74-34 victory over New Canaan on Jan. 29 and then improving to 16-0 overall with their 55-35 victory over Danbury on Feb. 1.
Gaudy as their record is and season is going, Norwalk’s Bears are not yet assured of the top seed in the FCIAC Girls Basketball Tournament which commences Feb. 16 with all four quarterfinal games being played at Fairfield Ludlowe High School.
Norwalk improved to 12-0 in the FCIAC and clinched its conference playoff berth with Friday night’s home win over Danbury. But Trumbull’s Eagles kept pace Saturday at Fairfield University as they withstood a St. Joseph upset bid and also clinched their own playoff berth and improved to 12-0 in the FCIAC with their 47-46 victory.
So the strong possibility exists that the top seed in the FCIAC tournament will be at stake Feb. 11 when Norwalk hosts Trumbull at 5:30 p.m.
Those two are the only FCIAC teams in the Top 10 of the state poll as they are both among the top four.
After the top-ranked Bears, New London dropped one spot down to No. 2 and Notre Dame-Fairfield was third. New London was 13-2 and Notre Dame-Fairfield 15-1 as of Jan. 30.
Trumbull, which improved to 15-1 Saturday, moved up one spot to No. 4 and was followed in the Top 10 by East Haven, Hamden, Windsor, Newtown, Kolbe Cathedral and Newington.
Trinity Catholic improved to 11-2 in the conference and 13-3 overall on Saturday with its 55-39 victory at Fairfield Warde to remain in third place in the FCIAC standings. Danbury is fourth at 9-2.
Trinity Catholic received the 15th most points and Danbury the 24th most points in the most recent state poll voting and were the only two FCIAC teams among the 16 teams statewide in the “Others receiving votes” category.
The third seed in the FCIAC tournament could be at stake this coming Friday when Trinity Catholic hosts Danbury.
Fairfield Ludlowe and Stamford are tied for fifth with 8-4 conference records but Ludlowe owns the first tiebreaker advantage via its 50-39 home victory over Stamford on Jan. 3.
Ridgefield is in seventh place at 7-4, Staples (8-5) is in eighth place, while St. Joseph (7-5) and Fairfield Warde (6-6) need to finish strong in their final four games to snatch one of the final conference playoff berths in the eight-team field.
In addition to the aforementioned upcoming Trumbull-Norwalk (Feb. 11) and Danbury-Trinity Catholic (Feb.8) games, there are still many more big matchups remaining involving teams in the thick of the FCIAC playoff race.
They include: Norwalk at Stamford, Warde at Trumbull, St. Joseph at Ludlowe, and Staples at Ridgefield on Tuesday, Feb. 5; Stamford at Danbury on Wednesday, Feb. 6; Stamford at Warde and Ridgefield at St. Joseph on Friday, Feb. 8; Ludlowe at Staples on Feb. 11; and Ridgefield at Norwalk, Trumbull at Trinity Catholic and Warde at Ludlowe on Feb. 13.
The regular season for the boys generally finishes a week later than the girls so there is a bit more time for jockeying for position in the FCIAC playoff race for the boys.
As of all the games which were completed by Feb. 2, this past Saturday, Trumbull is still undefeated in conference games as coach Buddy Bray’s Eagles held off a strong rally by St. Joseph for a 76-67 victory Saturday to improve to 10-0 in the FCIAC and 13-1 overall.
Danbury is in second place in the FCIAC at 10-1. Wilton (8-2) is third and followed by resurgent New Canaan (8-3), Ridgefield (7-3), St. Joseph (7-3), Fairfield Warde (5-4) and eighth-place Stamford (5-5).
There are still plenty of big games and pivotal matchups, obviously. Several of them this week include: Trumbull at Warde on Tuesday; Danbury at Stamford on Wednesday; and Wilton at Trumbull, St. Joseph at Ridgefield and Warde at Stamford on Friday.
Trumbull is scheduled to play at Danbury on Feb. 20 in the regular-season finale for both teams who are currently the only FCIAC teams in the Top 10 of the state poll. Danbury just climbed into the Top 10 at No. 10.
Trumbull is ranked seventh, following top-ranked Sacreat Heart, East Catholic, Bassick, Notre Dame-West Haven, Windsor, and Waterford. Manchester is ranked eighth and Newtown ninth.