St. Joe's, Trinity lead FCIAC in hoops polls

Written by Bob Greeney
Thursday, 17 January 2013 17:11

Trinity Catholic and St. Joseph were both ranked among the top seven teams in the state in the most recent 2012-13 New Haven Register Boys’ Basketball Top 10 Poll.

Trinity Catholic was ranked third and St. Joseph seventh after the polling of 19 media members that is compiled by the New Haven Register.

The polling took place after last Friday’s games and prior to Tuesday’s thrilling showdown at St. Joseph in which the host Cadets rallied for an 87-85 overtime victory.

Hillhouse (New Haven), which was 9-0, received 17 first-place votes to retain its No. 1 ranking.

Fairfield Prep (9-0) received the other two first-place votes to move up from the third spot the previous week to the second spot in the latest poll.

Trinity Catholic’s 8-1 Crusaders were fourth in the previous poll, they moved up to third in this latest poll after having improved to 8-0, and they’ll try to regain their winning ways at home this Friday against Danbury.

Crosby (9-0) is ranked fourth, Wilby (8-0) fifth and Windsor (8-1) sixth.

St. Joseph improved to 9-1 with Tuesday’s big win. The Cadets, who have won three straight since their 67-46 loss at Wilton on Jan. 4, host Trumbull on Friday.

Trinity Catholic and St. Joseph are the only two FCIAC teams among the top 10.

Woodstock Academy (9-0) is eighth, Capital Prep (8-1) ninth, and Wilbur Cross (8-1) completes the Top 10.

Ridgefield was ranked eighth the previous week but the Tigers dropped to 6-2 with a 61-47 loss at Norwalk last Friday (Jan. 11) and they received the 13th most points in the recent polling.

Westhill, which improved to 8-1 Tuesday with a 48-37 home victory over Fairfield Ludlowe, received the 14th most points.

The Vikings have a big game this Friday at Bridgeport Central, which received the 16th most points in the recent polling. That polling occurred before Central’s Hilltoppers dropped to 6-2 Tuesday with a 73-63 loss at home to Staples.

Norwalk received the 20th most points in the last polling. But in yet another example of the balance of the FCIAC, Norwalk’s Bears suffered a 79-76 loss at Bassick.

In the most recent MSG Varsity power rankings of Connecticut boys basketball teams in the MSG Varsity viewers/readers’ area, Fairfield Prep was ranked first and followed by four FCIAC teams — Trinity Catholic, St. Joseph, Bridgeport Central and Westhill.

Also from the FCIAC, Bassick was seventh and Norwalk ninth.