New London Sports Roundup: Whaler Boys Taking On Glastonbury In CIAC Tourney

High school

It wasn’t easy, but the New London High School boys’ basketball team held on to its sixth straight ECC title in the action leading up to the CIAC Tournament. The Whalers narrowly advanced to the final game by defeating Woodstock 78-76 on Wednesday, then defeated Norwich Free Academy 52-39 on Friday. The NLHS season record is 16-7, enough to secure a spot in the first round of the Class LL bracket with a ranking of 21st of 29 qualifying teams. The team faces Glastonbury, ranked 12th, in a 7 p.m. away game tonight; if the Whalers win, they’ll advance to the second round on Wednesday for a chance at Friday’s quarterfinal.

Although the tournament hopes are just starting for the NLHS boys, they came to an end for the girls last Monday. Lewis Mills (ranked sixth) defeated New London (ranked 27th) in a 40-35 game on Monday, knocking the Whalers out of the first round of the CIAC Tournament and ending their season at 10-12.

The winter sports season for the Williams School has concluded; the Blues do not have any scheduled competitions until spring sports start up in April.

College

Connecticut College’s women’s ice hockey team made it to the semifinals of the NESCAC Championships, but fell 4-1 to Middlebury; the team finishes with a season record of 14-11-1.

Other weekend end-of-season action included the ECAC Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships, where the Coast Guard Academy placed 17th on the men’s side and 24th on the women’s side. Individual athletes also took part in the regional NCAA championships in wrestling and swimming.

Mitchell College has moved on to its spring season, starting with a 15-6 loss to Curry in men’s lacrosse on Tuesday. The team came back for an overtime 11-10 win over Becker in their home opener on Saturday.

Standout athletes

• Kim Bolick: set a new Connecticut College record and placed third in the mile with a time of 4:59.34 at the ECAC Championships
• Abby Bishop: broke her own Coast Guard school record with 2,995 points in the heptathlon in the ECAC Championships
• Sara Cantrell: Coast Guard swimmer who qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships with a sixth place finish at the weekend’s regional NCAA championships
• Kaylee Cerruto and Amanda Garcia: Mitchell College basketball players who received NECC All-Conference honorable mentions
• The Connecticut College men’s cross country teams. The 2012 men’s team had an average grade point average of 3.573, the fourth highest of 143 Division III teams nationwide as calculated by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association; the women’s team had a GPA average of 3.543, earning the honor for the 21st year in a row
• Anthony Epps and Devonta Mosley: Mitchell basketball players named to the NECC All-Conference second team and as the NECC Rookie of the Year for 2013, respectively
• Kristin Euchler, Beth Golin, Rachel Hill, and Meghan Kalinowski: Coast Guard Academy team which had a time of 9:36.45 in the 4x800 relay at the ECAC Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships, placing fifth and making All-ECAC; the team also broke a school record in the distance medley with a time of 12:29.01.
• Joshua Ford: Mitchell basketball player, named the NECC Player of the Year for 2013
• Nate Giorgio: will compete in the NCAA Division III Championships after placing second at 125 pounds for the Coast Guard in the weekend’s NCAA regional championships
• David Klapp: had two goals in Mitchell’s lacrosse win against Becker, including the game-winning shot
• Clay Kosack: Coast Guard athlete who broke the school heptathlon record with 4,476 points and a fifth place finish at the ECAC Championships
• Demetre Lyras: had four goals for Mitchell in their win against Becker
• Deanna McCarvell: had 17 points for New London in the Lewis Mills game and finished the season with 61 points, according to The Bulletin
• Keith Porter and DeAnte Bruton: had 30 points and 27 points, respectively, in the win over Woodstock; Porter also scored 24 points and had 17 rebounds in the win against NFA
• Devonta Robinson: scored the game-winning basket against Woodstock with 15 seconds left in overtime

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.