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.