Eight teams will begin their drive for the 2018 FCIAC girls basketball championship on Saturday and you can catch four of those teams live on the HAN Network as part of a quarterfinal doubleheader at Wilton’s Nick Zeoli Field House.
The HAN Network will begin coverage with a pregame shown at 11:50 a.m., with the No. 6 Ridgefield Tigers squaring off against the No. 3 Warde Mustangs at noon. In the second game, No. 7 Staples Wreckers will face the No. 2 Wilton Warriors at 2 p.m.
The games can be seen on the home page of FCIAC.net and at HAN.Network, or on Frontier Communications’ Vantage Sports Network (Chs. 600/1600). Frank Granito and Kevin Coleman will be on the call
After the games are completed, they will be available on demand by clicking here.
The early game pits the 16-4 Warde Mustangs against the 14-6 Ridgefield Tigers. Warde won the regular-season meeting between the two teams, 47-27, back on Dec. 18.
The Mustangs have won four of their last five games, including a 41-38 squeaker against cross-town rival Ludlowe on Wednesday.
In that game, senior co-captain Olivia Parisi had a team-high 14 points and was a rebounding machine. Parisi and fellow senior co-captain Libby Mckenna have been great leaders on and off the floor to a roster filled with underclassmen who have stepped up big this season for the Mustangs.
Last season the Mustangs made it to the conference semifinals, but fell to eventual champion, Trumbull in triple overtime, 36-34. After losing key starters from last year’s team, head coach Dave Danko has retooled his roster and continues to have a successful program by bringing in young talent year in and year out and emphasizes strong team defense.
The Ridgefield Tigers finished their season strong with a statement win over number three seed Norwalk, 40-37, on Wednesday night. Senior captain Caroline Curnal finished with a double double, scoring 11 points and pulling down 15 rebounds.
Tigers head coach Tom DiMarzo enters his third season at the helm and has been a part of the Ridgefield basketball program since 2006. In his first season, DiMarzo brought an FCIAC championship to Ridgefield High School and looks to do the same this year.
The second game on the HAN Network features the 16-4 Wilton Warriors hosting the 14-6 Staples Wreckers. Staples won the regular-season meeting with Wilton, 51-34, on Jan. 9.
The Wreckers, who had a bye in the final round of games on Wednesday, took a dramatic 54-53 overtime game against Ludlowe in its season finale on Monday.
Staples has a well-balanced roster that features seniors with strong leadership abilities, juniors and sophomores that are becoming big name playmakers, and freshmen who are gaining excellent varsity experience.
Junior Ellie Fair and sophomore Arianna Gerig have made names for themselves as they have both been dominant on both sides of the floor, and head coach Paco Fabian has his team focused and ready to make a deep run in the FCIAC tournament.
The Wilton Warriors finished their regular season with a 46-33 win over Brien McMahon on Wednesday night and earned the second seed in the tournament. Claire Gulbin led the way for Wilton with 11 points, while Elizabeth Breslin had nine points and five rebounds.
The East Division champion Warriors have had another successful season under coach Rob Coloney, who looks to add bring home more hardware to Wilton High School.
Wilton rolls into the playoffs, winning nine out of its last 10 games dating back to Jan. 12. Coach Coloney will rely heavily on the senior leadership from Caroline Sweeney, Gulbin, Breslin, and Emily Tuin, all of whom have the varsity experience to take them to the championship game.
In Saturday’s other FCIAC quarterfinal doubleheader, No. Stamford will face No. 3 Norwalk at noon, and No. 1 Trumbull will take on No. 8 Darien at 2 p.m. Both games will take place at Norwalk High School.
The HAN Network will have full coverage of the FCIAC girls basketball semifinals and championship game.
The semifinals are scheduled for Tues., Feb. 20, with the first game scheduled at 6 p.m. and the second at 7:45 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for Thurs., Feb. 22, at 7 p.m.