BEYOND THE ARC- No. 8 Lauralton Hall is not close to No. 1 Mercy, Ansonia's Melissa Tirella is getting close to 1,000 and Lyman Hall really likes close games. Don't stand so close to me, here's what caught my eye.

NOT EVEN CLOSE: It is going to be hard for any team to take Mercy out of the No. 1 spot in the state. The Tigers took out another top 10 team, routing No. 8 Lauralton Hall 66-47 in the final of the Mercy Holiday Tournament in Middletown. Maria Weselyj won MVP in the tournament and finished with 25 points. Liz Falcigno dropped 16 for the Tigers, who improved to 8-0' clinching a spot in the state playoffs. Mercy has a rematch with No. 7 Career on Jan. 9 in Middletown at 7. The Tigers won the first match up in New Haven when the Panthers were ranked No. 1 in the state. Lauralton Hall fell to 4-1.

CLOSING IN: Ansonia's Melissa Tirella is closing in on a milestone, just 23 points shy of 1,000 for her career after a 27-point performance in a 42-38 victory over Oxford. Tirella saved her best efforts for last, pouring in all 16 of the Chargers' points in the fourth quarter.  The win improved Ansonia to 4-3.

CRAZY 8: Amity completely stifled Woodland in the final of the Candy Cane Classic, routing Woodland 44-8. That's right, eight points. Woodland only scored two points in the second half, going scoreless in the third quarter.  Interestingly enough, the Spartans, who improved to 6-1, only sent Woodland to the line six times. Woodland missed all six. Molly Ronan had 14 points to lead Amity.

MMMM, CRUNCH TIME: If you want to watch a competitive game, chances are a Lyman Hall game won't disappoint. There's an even better chance the Trojans will win, too. Since defeating West Haven by 13 to start the season, Lyman Hall's next six games have been decided by three points or less. The trend continued as the Trojans defeated the Tigers of Hand 42-39 to improve to 5-2 on the season and 4-2 in games decided by three points or less. Krista Peterson had a team-high 11 points. Hand dropped to 4-3.

Starting five: The top five performances from last night's action
Maria Weselyj,  No. 1 Mercy: Scored 25 points and made three 3-pointers to capture Mercy Holiday Tournament MVP honors and lead the Tigers to a 66-47 victory over No. 8 Lauralton Hall.
Melissa Tirella, Ansonia: Scored 16 of her 27 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Chargers over Oxford 42-38.
Ali Hart, Guilford: Hit the game-winning 3-pointer and scored 14 points in a 34-33 victory over Cheshire.
Nicole Belade, O'Brien Tech: Score a season-high 20 points in a 40-35 overtime victory over Vinal Tech.
Nicole Beard, Shelton: Scored 17 points in a 50-38 victory over Norwalk.


What's going on?: A look around the state.
NEW HAVEN REGISTER: Local roundup ad box scores.
MIDDLETOWN PRESS: Local roundup and box scores.
HARTFORD COURANT: Missed Mercy's win over Ledyard? Lori Riley has for you covered.
NEWS-TIMES: No. 5 Danbury prevails, Rich Gregory has more.

Follow all of the girls' basketball action tonight!

BEYOND THE ARC — If Christmas doesn’t feel quite like Christmas anymore, I’ve got some gifts for all of you #ctgb fans.  No. 1 Mercy had a lump of coal for Cheshire, East Haven got their first present of the Holiday season and Haddam-Killingworth's Halie Serbent is probably a great last minute shopper.  Alley-Oop.

Alley: Last week’s hits.

SHUTDOWN
Top-ranked Mercy isn’t just a 3-point shooting team. These girls can play some defense, too.
TUESDAY
33-0: That was No. 1 Mercy’s lead over Cheshire with 1:41 left in the second quarter. The Rams’ Missy Bailey hit a 3-pointer to finally get Cheshire on the board at the 1:40 minute mark in the second quarter. Mercy would eventually win 49-19. Mercy’s Maria Weselyj had a game-high 10 points. Cheshire fell to 2-2 after being held to under 20 points for the first time since a 55-13 loss to Westover on Dec. 1, 2007. Mercy defeated Sacred Heart Academy on Thursday and is no 6-0.

ON THE BOARD
East Haven picked up its’ first victory with an upset of previously undefeated North Haven.
THURSDAY
FIRST WIN: East Haven has had a tough  start the season, losing to Guilford (2-1), No. 1 Mercy (6-0), Hamden (2-3) and Foran (3-3). However, the Yellow Jackets picked up victory No. 1 with a 47-37 triumph over previously undefeated North Haven. Danielle Polvan poured in 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Amanda Bradley had a double-double of 12 boards and 11 points as East Haven improved to 1-4 overall and 1-0 in the Southern Connecticut Conference Oronoque Division.

SUPER SOPH
Haddam-Killingworth Sohopmore Halie Serbent steps up in the clutch.
THURSDAY
NO TIME TO THINK: That’s what Haddam-Killingworth's Halie Serbent said about her go-ahead basket to lead H-K over Hyde 44-39 in an interdivision Shoreline game. With the score tied at 38, H-K’s Lauren McCann found Serbent streaking across the middle of the paint, and without thought, Serbent let it fly and drained a 10-footer with about a minute left in the game. Serbent was only in the game because forward/center Kiley Anderson left momentarily with a leg injury. Nice coaching move, Jim Bombaci.

Oops: Last week’s misses.

TOUGH LOSSES, TOUGH WINS: No. 2 Weaver lost to unranked East Hartford 65-47 on Monday.  East Hartford is 4-0 on the season and Weaver is 6-1. Good win for EH, tough loss for the Beavers who might slip in the next poll. ... RHAM routed Hartford Public on Tuesday 84-6. Seriously, 84 points to six points. Not only did the Sachems come 16 shy off 100 points, but Sarah Veilleux scored 38 points. Now, Hartford Public is 0-5 and had lost games by an average of 36.7 points per game going into that RHAM game, but still to blow someone out 84-6 doesn’t seem like an accident. I know sometimes its hard to not win by 50-plus sometimes, but wow. Not in favor of a football-style score management policy, but in the spirit of good sportsmanship, just stop taking shots.

I Beg Your Pardon?: The best quotes from last week’s games.

“Losing four seniors and coming off a state championship people don’t expect a lot from us, but we definitely don’t view this as a rebuilding year. We have a lot of athletes on this team.”
 
Coginchaug’s Jessica Solomon on the team’s 6-0 start. Read Jimmy Zanor’s story in the Middletown Press, here.



“The thing that we do here is we come together. You saw in the last couple years how this community rallied around us, how they’ve rallied around every athletic program, every band competition, every school play -- that’s the kind of community this is. This was an opportunity for us to give back to the community, however small and insignificant that may be.”
 
Newtown coach Jeremy O’Connell after Newtown’s first game since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary. Read Chris Brodeur’s story from the News-Times here.

Ballers: Last week’s best scorers

Brooklin Davis, North Haven: She scored a game-high 23 and made two 3-pointers in a victory on Tuesday.
Danielle Polvan, East Haven: She had 21 points and eight rebounds in a 47-37 victory over North Haven on Thursday.
Jayva Johnson, West Haven: Johnson had 29 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in a 62-57 triumph over Law on Thursday.
Paige Trabucchi, Old Saybrook: Had 19 points in a 57-51 victory over Hyde on Tuesday.
Taylor Ceballos, Foran: She had 18 points and 10 rebounds in a 51-37 triumph over East Haven on Tuesday.

Brawlers: Last week’s gutsiest performances

Jill Johnson, North Haven: Made the game-winning running jumper from 10-feet out as time expired in a 44-43 victory over Guilford on Tuesday.
Halie Serbent, Haddam-Killingworth: Made the go-ahead basket with about a minute left to lead H-K past Hyde 44-39 on Thursday.
Quanisha Finney, Ansonia: Had a career-high 17 rebounds and scored five points in a 40-29 win over Derby on Tuesday.
Kate Morrison, Old Saybrook: Grabbed 18 rebounds in a 44-22 victory over Westbrook on Friday.
Jessica Bogdwicz, Bunnell: Posted a triple-double of 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a loss to Newtown on Friday.

BEYOND THE ARC – Hello Brooklin, how ya doin? North Haven is doing just fine, so is No. 1 Mercy and Whitney Tech is feeling good at home for the first time in a while. Spread the good vibes, here’s what caught my eye.

NOT THE SAME NORTH HAVEN: The Indians have had their struggles as of late, going 0-20 last season. North Haven has put last season behind it and improved to 4-0 this season, thanks to a game-winning runner from Jill Johnson as time expired to capture a 44-43 victory over Guilford in a Southern Connecticut Conference interdivision game. North Haven's Brooklin Davis had a game-high 23 points and Johnson finished with 11 points.

ALSO: Davis was named Saturday's Star of the Day after a 28-point performance in a 53-44 victory over West Haven. She got 71 votes, good for 68 percent.

33-0: That was No. 1 Mercy’s lead over Cheshire with 1:41 left in the second quarter. The Rams’ Missy Bailey hit a 3-pointer to finally get Cheshire on the board at the 1:40 minute mark in the second quarter. Mercy would eventually win 49-19 and improved to 5-0. Mercy’s Maria Weselyj had a game-high 10 points. Cheshire fell to 2-2 after being held to under 20 points for the first time since a 55-13 loss to Westover on Dec. 1, 2007.

PHEW!:  Lyman Hall has been hot lately. Seriously, they are very comfortable with heat. However, Hamden did all it could to cool off the Trojans, walking away with a 43-42 SCC interdivision victory to end Lyman Hall's three-game winning streak. The Green Dragons led 38-25 after three quarters before the Trojans exploded for a 17-5 fourth quarter. Thanks to a 13-point, 11-rebound performance from Tessa Lavorgna, Hamden held on and moved to 2-3 on the season.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Whitney Tech won its’ first home game in three years in a 33-24 victory over Grasso Tech.  Whitney Tech’s Darneisha Cantey scored a career-high 10 points. … RHAM routed Hartford Public 84-6 and RHAM’s Sarah Veilleux had 38 points. ... The Crosby/Torrington game was suspended in the first quarter after the Bulldogs’ Deborah Vaichus was hit in the head coming off a pick. She got up, but fainted and was unconscious and unresponsive when attempting to run up the court, according to a report from the Republican-American. For more, check out What’s going on. … Also on Tuesday, No. 2 Weaver lost to unranked East Hartford. 

Starting Five: The top five performances from last night’s action.

Jill Johnson, North Haven: Made the game-winning running jumper from 10-feet out as time expired in a 44-43 victory over Guilford.

Taylor Ceballos, Foran: She had 18 points and 10 rebounds in a 51-37 triumph over East Haven.

Quanisha Finney, Ansonia: Had a career-high 17 rebounds and scored five points in a 40-29 win over Derby.

Paige Trabucchi, Old Saybrook: Had 19 points in a 57-51 victory over Hyde.

Brooklin Davis, North Haven: She scored a game-high 23 and made two 3-pointers in a victory.

What’s going on?

NEW HAVEN REGISTER: Local roundups and box scores.

NEW HAVEN REGISTER: Amity storms past West Haven. Mike Madera has more.

NEW HAVEN REGISTER: Newtown/Masuk to donate to Sandy Hook families.

REGISTER CITIZEN: Torrington/Crosby game suspended due to player’s concussion. Peter Wallace was there.

MIDDLETOWN PRESS: Cromwell improves to 5-0. Jimmy Zanor has more.

THE DAY: Ledyard defeats Montville. Ned Griffen was there.

BEYOND THE ARC-- No. 1 Mercy routed former No. 1 Career by 11, then No. 3 Capital Prep defeated the Panthers by 19. However, the Tigers are No. 1 and the Trailblazers sit at No. 3. Should Capital Prep be the top team in the state or did the voters get it right with Mercy?

Check out the latest top 10 poll here.

BEYOND THE ARC – No. 9 Capital Prep thinks it’s the best team in the state, No. 3 Mercy might have something to say about that and No. 1 Career might just be on the outside looking in on this convo. What you talkin’ bout Chisholm? Here’s what caught my eye.

BLAZED: No. 9 Capital Prep has to hear it all the time. You’re just Class S, you don’t play anybody good in the Constitution State Conference. Well, the Trail Blazers silenced the critics with a convincing 76-57 romp of top ranked Career in the Doc Hurley Basketball Classic at Weaver High in Hartford. Capital Prep’s sophomore forward Kiah Gillepsie had a game-high 29 and freshman forward Desiree Elmore had 28. Those two Trailblazers (2-0) scored just as much as the entire Career (2-2) team. Senior forward Tanaya Atkinson had a team-high 28 for the No. 1 Panthers. Career lost to No. 3 Mercy by 11 on Tuesday. When the new poll comes out next week, expect major changes.

WHO’S THAT DIPPING ON THE FAST BREAK?: Snoop James. I apologize to Miss James and her family for that terrible Snoop Dogg pun. Capital Prep’s DeJane “Snoop” James actually got her nickname from the character on The Wire, because she is so tough. Snoop is also very smart. In my humble opinion, she was the best player on the court last night. She made everything go for the Trailblazers, she hit shots when the defense sagged off, broke defenders down one-on-one and found moving cutters all game. She only had nine points, but had a major impact on the outcome. She’s just a sophomore, keep her on your radar.

CLUTCH: Lauren Singleton came through when her team needed it most, draining the game-winning shot with 3.3 seconds left to play to lift Hamden over East Haven 45-44. Singleton finished with 16 points as the Green Dragons (1-2) picked up their first victory of the season keeping the Yellow Jackets winless at 0-3.

FREE BEE: Last night in Sacred Heart Academy’s 59-52 Southern Connecticut Conference interdivision victory over Cheshire, there were 45 free throws attempted by the two teams combined. The Pacers and Rams collectively shot 35-for-45 from the charity stripe. The 35 free throws made were one more than the 34 field goals made by the two teams combined. The Pacers’ Alexis Iannone led all scorers with 25 and was 7-for-8 from the line and SHA’s Shyla Osmond was 6-for-6 from the free throw line with 17 points.

Starting five: The top five performers from last night’s action.

Kiah Gillespie, No. 9 Capital Prep: She scored a game-high 29 points in a 76-57 victory over No. 1 Career.

Desiree Elmore, No. 9 Capital Prep: Finished with 28 points in the rout of Career.

Alexis Iannone, Sacred Heart Academy: Dropped a game-high 25 in a 59-52 triumph over Cheshire.

Jayva Johnson, West Haven: Led the game with 25 points in a 54-51 victory over Foran.

Lauren Singleton, Hamden: Had 16 points and nailed the game-winning shot with 3.3 second left in a 45-44 victory over East Have.

What’s going on?: A look around the state.

NEW HAVEN REGISTER: There’s a new No. 1, sort of.

NEW HAVEN REGISTER:  Local roundups and box scores.

NEW HAVEN REGISTER: West Haven rallies to defeat Foran. Mike Madera has more info.

MIDDLETOWN PRESS: No. 2 Weaver too much for Middletown.

WATERBURY REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN: Local roundups.

HARTFORD COURANT: Check out the Capital Prep/Career game from the Courant’s point of view. Lori Riley has more.

Who will come out on top?





Can top ranked Career bounce back from Tuesday's loss to No. 3 Mercy? Stay tuned?

BEYOND THE ARC – Today is 12/12/12, but if anything out of the ordinary was supposed to happen, it took place yesterday. Mercy showed none, Gabby Holness didn’t either and Lyman Hall forgot how to lose. Cross your fingers and make a wish, here’s what caught my eye.

ROAR – Career, the preseason No. 1, is the heavy favorite to win the Southern Connecticut Conference. No. 3 Mercy was thought to be the only team that could trip up Career. Last night in New Haven, the Tigers showed why draining seven 3-pointers, holding the Panthers to just six second-quarter points and walking away with a 64-53 victory over the best team in the state. Mercy (3-0)’s Jordyn Nappi had a game-high 27 points and nailed five from downtown. For Career (2-1), A-lister and Manhattan-bound guard Nicole Anderson had a team-high 25 points. Career takes on another top-10 team Thursday, traveling to Weaver High School to take on No. 9 Capital Prep in the Doc Hurley Classic. Expect some changes in the top-10.

WHEN IT COUNTS – Foran’s Alexandra Librandi only scored two points in the second half against Sheehan, however, those two points were very important. Librandi hit a jumper with 4.9 second left in the game to lift Foran over Sheehan 48-47 as the Lions battled back from a nine-point deficit. Foran (2-1) freshman center Taylor Ceballos had another strong game with 22 points and 14 rebounds. For Sheehan, Joelle Mark Anthony had 16 points.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES – Last season, Lyman Hall finished 0-20 and lost games by an average of 18 points per game. Things are a lot different this season, as the Trojans are 3-0 after defeating Guilford 43-40 last night. Samantha Becker and Krista Petersen both scored eight points to lead Lyman Hall. The Trojans have found different ways to win, defeating West Haven by 13 and just getting by Foran by two in overtime. Nicole and Taylor Mierzejewski have both led the team in scoring, too.

 
WHERE BROOKLYN AT? – Is probably a joke this young lady is tired of hearing. However, North Haven guard Brooklyn Davis was in the paint a lot in a 44-35 victory over Hamden. Davis had 10 points and 14 rebounds in the Indians’ (2-0) victory.

Starting Five: The top five performers from last night’s action

Jordyn Nappi, No. 3 Mercy: She scored a game-high 27 points and made five 3-pointers in a 64-53 triumph over No. 1 Career.

Taylor Ceballos, Foran: Finished with a double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds in a 48-47 victory over Sheehan.

Missy Bailey, Cheshire: The guard had a game-high 21 points, made seven out of eight free throws and added six steals in a 53-43 victory over No. 10 Hillhouse.

Mia Neas, Old Saybrook: She finished with a game-high 26 points in a 57-35 win over Portland.

Gabby Holness, Pomperaug: Had a game-high 34 points, eight boards and six steals in a 57-49 victory over Newtown.

What’s going on?

NEW HAVEN REGISTER: Local roundups and box scores

MIDDLETOWN PRESS: Local roundup

RECORD JOURNAL: Foran gets it done in the clutch. Toby Carmody has the story.

REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN: Watertown takes care of Ansonia. Joe Palladino has more.

BEYOND THE ARC -- Follow all the action from a busy Tuesday night.

BEYOND THE ARC -- Former Hillhouse star, the first female McDonald's All-American from Connecticut and NHR All-Area MVP Bria Holmes has kept it going on the Division I level, earning Phillips 66 Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors last week.
The New Haven native averaged 12 points and five rebounds in two games as the Mountaineers went 2-0 with victories over Marshall and St. Bonaventure.
Holmes had a career high of 15 points in the win over Marshall and also led the team in scoring. She has led WVU in scoring twice this season.
Check out the press release from Katie Kane of www.wvusports.com right here.

BEYOND THE ARC – The first week is done and Career’s got an A-List, Emma McCarthy triples her pleasure and two Mierzejewski’s are better than one. Alley-oop.

ALLEYS: Last weeks hits.

SISTER ACT

Lyman Hall has got a pair of studs in Taylor and Nicole Mierzejewski. Check out what they did last week.

WEDNESDAY

Taylor Mierzejewski had 20 points and five steals for the Lyman Hall girls’ basketball team in a 48-35 Southern Connecticut Conference interdivision win over West Haven at Wallingford in the season opener for both teams.

FRIDAY

Lyman Hall’s Nicole Mierzejewski had a good start to her season in Wednesday's victory. On Friday she carried that momentum into the second half and overtime scoring 14 of her 18 points to help her team down Foran 41-39 in OT. Mierzejewski was the only Trojan (2-0) in double-digits as Lyman Hall kept the Lions’ (0-2) Taylor Ceballos under control, only surrendering 11 points to the freshman.

STEAL AWAY

No. 8 Lauralton Hall’s Emma McCarthy started off her season in style with a rather unorthodox triple-double. Check it out.

WEDNESDAY

No. 8 Lauralton Hall’s Emma McCarthy had an unusual triple double against Newtown on Wednesday night. She had 13 points (that’s pretty normal), 10 rebounds (nothing out of the ordinary about that) and 10 steals (Ooooooh, that’s the unusual part). The Crusaders topped the Nighthawks 55-38. Olivia Levey had herself a game, grabbing 18 rebounds for LH (1-0) in the win over Newtown (0-1).

THE A-LIST

No. 1 Career’s got the best team in the state and a big three that would put fear in any opponents heart. Meet the A-list.

FRIDAY

Tanaya Atkinson, Nicole Anderson and Alyssa Alston (three A’s, A-list, get it?) are the cream of the SCC crop on the state’s best team. They showed Sacred Heart Academy just why last night as Atkinson dropped a game-high 36 points and Alston and Anderson added 13 each in a 71-42 victory. The Panthers’ (2-0) Atkinson came six points shy of tying the Pacers (0-2), who suffered their second straight double-digit loss after falling to Amity 41-31 Wednesday. The A-List also accounted for 62 of Career's 71 points.

OOPS: Last week’s misses.

WEDNESDAY
KNOCKING THAT RUST OFF: Sacred Heart Academy was held to just six fourth-quarter points in a season-opening loss to Amity 41-31 to start the season as the Spartans’ stifling defense and timely shot making put the Pacers away.
FRIDAY

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: Foran fell to Lyman Hall 41-39 in overtime on Friday. Despite a valiant effort from both teams, the Lions can point to free throws and turnovers as contributing factors in their defeat. Foran shot a Dwight-Howardesque 54 percent (15-for-28) from the line and turned the ball over 26 times, according to Mike Madera who covered the game for the Register.

I Beg Your Pardon?: The best quotes from last week’s games

“Carly is awesome. The kid, talk about mental toughness, physical toughness. She’ll throw her body on the ground, throw her body into a wall. She’s asked to screen someone? She’d do it to a fault. There’s no keeping her down. Torn ACL? Comes back. Another one? Comes back again.”

Lauralton Hall coach Amanda Forcucci talking about Carly Fabbri coming back from a torn ACL and scoring 10 points on Wednesday. Read the CT Post’s story here, courtesy of Mike Cardillo.

“Murph and Holly tried to outscore them together but the old adage is, ‘Little guys get tired, big guys don’t shrink,’ That’s kind of what happened to us. I don’t think either coach is happy with the defensive effort. You don’t see high school girls scoring in the 70s. That doesn’t happen a lot.”

E.O. Smith coach Kirk Murad said this after Holly Worski made seven 3-pointers and Murphy Murad hit five in a loss to Northwest Catholic on Wednesday. Check out the story from the Hartford Courant.

“We survived tonight. A game like this will help us grow up. Last year, we would have lost a game like this. We were 0-20 last year. To start 2-0, I will take it.”

Lyman Hall coach Tom Lipka after his team’s 41-39 overtime victory over Foran on Friday. Special to the Register, Mike Madera has more.  

Ballers: Last week's best scorers.
Tanaya Atkinson, No. 1 Career: She scored a game-high 36 points and grabbed six rebounds in a 71-42 win over Sacred Heart Academy Friday.
Trayneice Mims, Hyde: Finished with 24 points, four assists and four steals in a 55-42 victory over Portland Wednesday.
Jenn Vazquez, St. Joseph (Trumbull): She dropped 27 points on Fairfield Warde in a 57-45 triumph Friday.
Jayva Johnson, West Haven: She made two 3-pointers and finished with 24 points in a 59-22 win over Wilbur Cross Friday.
Taylor Mierzejewski, Lyman Hall: Dropped 20 points and had five steals in a 48-35 victory over West Haven Wednesday.

Brawlers: Last week's toughest performances.
Tanaya Atkinson, No. 1 Career: Had a game-high 26 points, nine rebounds and nine steals and made two 3-pointers in a 77-46 victory over Foran Wednesday.
Shyla Osmond, Sacred Heart Academy: On Wednesday she only scored six points in a loss to Amity, but she played despite a bad concussion this summer and just one week of practice.
Tori Peterson, Haddam-Killingworth: She dropped 17 points and hauled in 17 rebounds in a 46-38 victory over Old Saybrook Friday.
Taylor Ceballos, Foran: Had a double-double of 25 points and 14 boards in a 77-46 loss to No. 1 Career Wednesday.
Melissa Tirella, Ansonia: She finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists in a 42-37 triumph over St. Paul Friday.