CT boys basketball tournament pairings released, here are some teams to watch

The CIAC released its boys basketball tournament pairings Tuesday with tournament scheduled to begin Wednesday with play-in games.

The five boys championship games will take place March 21-22 at Mohegan Sun Arena. Here’s a quick breakdown of the divisions:

Division I: East Catholic, which lost to East Hartford in the CCC tournament semifinal Saturday, is the No. 3 seed and will face St. Bernard Tuesday. Northwest Catholic is the fourth seed and will host Greenwich Tuesday. Manchester, last year’s Division II champion, is the 16th seed after a winless regular season and will travel to No. 1 Staples Tuesday. Notre Dame-West Haven, which has won the last two Division I titles, is the sixth seed and could potentially face East Catholic in the quarterfinal if both win second round games.

Division II: Windsor, the No. 1 seed, is sure to be fired up after a 69-65 loss in the CCC tournament championship game Monday night to East Hartford. The Warriors will play the winner of Xavier-Fairfield Warde March 9. East Hartford, which won its first CCC title since 1998, is the No. 3 seed and could potentially face Windsor again if the two teams make it to the finals. The Hornets will play Farmington in a first-round game Friday. Trumbull, which lost in the FCIAC tournament quarterfinals to Stamford, is the No. 2 seed. Platt is the fifth seed.

Division III: Ellington, last year’s Division IV champion, moved up to Division III and is the top seed. The Knights have only lost one game this year, to last year’s Division V runner-up Old Lyme, and have won 48 of their last 49 games. Ellington lost a key player, Jack Curtis, to a knee injury in the NCCC tournament, which the Knights won Monday night for the second straight year, 63-40. The Knights will play the winner of Bridgeport Central-Career Magnet Tuesday in a second-round game. SMSA is the third seed and could potentially face Sheehan, if the Titans beat South Windsor in the first round, in the second round Tuesday. Sheehan was the Division IV runner-up to Ellington last year.

Division IV: Old Lyme, last year’s Division V runner-up and the 2024 Division V champion, has moved up to IV and is the second seed. Granby, which lost only to Ellington (three times) and Lakeview this season, is the fourth seed. The Bears could have a chance to avenge one of their losses – to Lakeview – in the second round on Monday if Lakeview gets by Kaynor Tech in the first round.

Division V: Stafford, which lost to Granby in the NCCC tournament semifinals, is the top seed in Division V. The Bulldogs will play the winner of Old Saybrook-International on Tuesday. Somers, which handed Stafford one of its losses, is the No. 4 seed and Coventry, the Division V runner-up two years ago, is the fifth seed. Haddam-Killingworth is the No. 2 seed and Hartford Public is the No. 3 seed.

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