Original Story: The annual Todd Burger Holiday Girls Basketball Tournament in Fairfield is in the spotlight this week and you can catch all the action live on the HAN Network starting with a pregame show at noon, Wednesday.
The tournament will feature three FCIAC teams — the Ludlowe Falcons, Warde Mustangs and Staples Wreckers — as well as the St. Paul Catholic Falcons from Bristol.
Here’s the tournament schedule:
Wednesday, Dec. 27, at Fairfield-Warde HS
Ludlowe vs. Staples, 12:30 p.m.
Warde vs. St. Paul Catholic, 2 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 28, at Fairfield-Ludlowe HS
Consolation, 1 p.m.
Championship, 2:30 p.m.
Games can be seen live on FCIAC.net and han.network, as well as on Frontier Communications’ Vantage Sports Network (Chs. 600/1600). Frank Granito and John Kovach will be on the call.
Tournament, held annually in Fairfield, is named for Todd Burger, a local journalist, who was sports editor of the Fairfield Citizen from 1992-2006. He died on Dec. 19, 2006, at the age of 49 and one year later, the tournament began under his name.
In the first semifinal game, the Ludlowe Falcons will take on the Staples Wreckers. These two teams look to gain early season momentum in the conference. Ludlowe enters the holiday tournament with a record of 1-3. After a victory over Harding, they have lost to Norwalk, Wilton, and Stamford.
The Falcons will look to junior captain Bridget Paulmann, who is a key returning player looks to lead the team on both sides of the floor so far this season.
The Wreckers have gotten off to a red hot start this season as they enter the holiday tournament 3-1 overall. Their only loss came to Bethel in the first game of the season but are now on a three-game winning streak with victories coming against New Canaan, St. Joseph, and Trinity Catholic.
The Wreckers will lean on junior Arianna Gerig and Elli Fair, who are key players returning to the starting lineup and will continue to try and lead Staples to postseason success.
The second semifinal game features a pair of unbeaten teams, as both Warde and St. Paul come in with 4-0 records.
The Mustangs opened with a win over Bristol Eastern, and have since won conference games against Brien McMahon, Ridgefield, and Norwalk.
St. Paul took its first three games against WCA, Cosby, and Woodland — all by double digits — before edging Sacred Heart, 45-40, last Thursday.