No. 9 Mercy will look to knock off top-seeded Lauralton Hall tonight at 7:45 p.m. at Berlin.

Mercy coach Tim Kohs’ thoughts on the Keylantra Langley and the Crusaders: “She’s explosive. She’s a great player. She can score in so many ways. She’s a big guard and we don’t have big guards.”

Kohs said it’s a winnable game — if the Tigers can contain Langley, rebound the ball and control Lauralton Hall’s size advantage inside.

No. 9 Morgan will face top-seeded Brookfield in the Class M quarterfinals tonight at 6 p.m. at Middletown.

Huskies coach Joe Grippo’s thoughts on Brookfield: “They’re tough. I heard great things about her (Bobcats high-scoring guard Brittany Martelle). We’ll force others to handle the ball.”

Grippo on Morgan’s run so far: Some people criticize our league (Shoreline Conference), but it’s good basketball. Look at the SCC. All the teams are gone (in Class M). Playing in our league prepared us well for the tournament.”

For the rest of the quarterfinal matchups, check out the Register's brackets here.

Here's a profile of Morgan's Kelcy Carlson, one of this week's two New Haven Register high school Athletes of the Week.

It’s like guessing how many jellybeans are in the jar. Actually, it’s probably harder.

That is predicting which team will win the Shoreline Conference.

“It’s been crazy all year long,” Morgan coach Joe Grippo said. “There’s no question there are five to eight teams that could win the whole thing. It’s really competitive. If you try and compare scores, you go out of your head.”

For example: Coginchaug beat Morgan, but has lost to Portland. But Morgan defeated Portland. Then Morgan lost to Haddam-Killingworth. But Haddam-Killingworth lost to North Branford, which lost to Morgan. This pattern could go on and on.

But like Grippo said, it’s confusing. The bottom line is there is plenty of parity in the conference, and there is an argument to be made for several teams.

Old Lyme has four starters back from a team that won the Class S state title. Coginchaug is 12-1. Portland has lost three of its last four, but the Highlanders may have the conference’s best player in Kelly Coleman and won their first nine games. East Hampton has some quality victories on its resume.

Meanwhile, Morgan has won its last six games. Haddam-Killingworth, the defending league champion, can’t be counted out either. Nor should Cromwell, which was a preseason favorite. And perhaps North Branford could be included in the mix.

“Who are you going to eliminate?” Coginchaug coach Tony Calcagni asked. “Any team can beat any other team.”

And at the very least, the balance should make for a very interesting conference tournament.

“It’s very wide-open this year,” Old Lyme coach Don Bugbee said. “Quite a few could win the championship. It boils down to who plays well toward the end of season.”