Class L

Andreana Thomas scored 21 points and dished out 10 assists to lift No. 9 Hillhouse to a 61-46 win over No. 8 Trinity Catholic.

Molly Poryanda scored 18 points and pulled down 13 rebounds as No. 11 Branford coasted into the quarterfinals with a 64-36 win over No. 27 Newington.

Class S

No. 5 Coginchaug came from behind to edge No. 12 Putnam 45-42. Audrey Biesak led the Blue Devils with 15 points. Katelyn Tarr had a game-high 28 points for the Clippers.

Kelly Coleman and Alyssa Unikewicz each scored 13 points as No. 9 Portland knocked off No. 8 Old Lyme, the defending Class S champions, 36-34.

To see the updated brackets, click here.

Courtney Schissler scored 26 points and Brittney Kenney added a career-high 22 points as No. 11 Branford beat No. 22 Guilford 75-61 in the opening round of the Class L tournament.

Audrey Biesak scored 15 points to lift No. 5 Coginchaug to a 60-41 win over No. 28 Stafford in the Class S tournament.

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.”

Coginchaug sophomore Samantha Mancinelli recently earned Register Athlete of the Week honors.

Mancinelli scored 23 points in Blue Devils 64-48 win over Haddam-Killingworth on Jan. 12. Mancinelli then had 15 points in Coginchaug’s 60-47 win over Old Lyme on Friday.

She has helped make Coginchaug (11-1) a major factor in the Shoreline Conference race.

Check out a video interview with Mancinelli here.

In the battle of the unbeatens, Portland edged Coginchaug 54-52 at Durham.

Kelly Coleman hit a runner in the lane with 4 seconds left to lift Portland to the win. Audrey Biesak missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer for Coginchuag’s final chance.

Coleman finished with a game-high 28 points and 15 rebounds for Portland (6-0). Samantha Mancinelli had 19 points for the Blue Devils (5-1).

It's the battle of the unbeatens tonight. Portland (5-0) and Coginchaug (6-0), the top teams in the Shoreline Conference, will square off at Coginchaug at 7:30 p.m. It should be a close one.

Here are some intriguing matchups in the final week of 2009...

Portland at Coginchaug, Monday, 7:30 p.m.: Both teams are off to hot starts. It should be interesting to see which team remains undefeated. Will it be a Kelley Coleman-led Portland squad or the Blue Devils' balanced attack?

Kolbe Cathedral vs. Career, at Wilbur Cross, 5 p.m.: Two perennial powers square off. The Cougars have won four straight since dropping their season opener. The Panthers come in after a big win over Hillhouse.

Hillhouse at Wilbur Cross, 7 p.m.: This will be the first meeting between these city schools. It may be a down year for the Governors, but records have to be disregarded when these two teams face each other. This is the final game of Vanguard Classic tripleheader. Guilford plays Hamden at 3 p.m., followed by the Kolbe Cathedral-Career matchup.

Hand Holiday Tournament championship, at Hand, 7 p.m.: This will likely be Lyman Hall vs. Lauralton Hall. And if that's the case, it will be interesting to see how the Crusaders hand Lindsay Karle, who went off for 31 earlier this season in an upset win over Career.

Also, make sure to check back Sunday evening to see who the new No. 1 team is in the latest Register Top 10 poll.

Coginchaug has been selected as the Connecticut Sun High School Girls' Basketball
Team of the Week for the week of December 14-20.
Audrey Biesak scored 18 points as Coginchaug defeated Morgan 53-47 on Dec. 15. Biesak also led a balanced attack on Friday, finishing with 11 points in a 43-40 victory over Haddam-Killingworth.