The defending champion Ridgefield Tigers will lead a field of eight teams in what shapes up to be a wide-open FCIAC boys basketball tournament, which gets underway with quarterfinal games at Fairfield-Warde HS on Saturday.
Here’s are the match-ups for the FCIAC quarterfinals on Saturday, Feb. 24:
No. 3 Danbury (13-3) vs. No. 6 Central (11-5), noon
No. 2 Trinity Catholic (14-2) vs. No. 7 Stamford (11-5), 2 p.m.
No. 4 Warde (12-4) vs. No. 5 Trumbull (11-5), 5 p.m.
No. 1 Ridgefield (14-2) vs. No. 8 Norwalk (10-6), 7 p.m.
The Tigers had already wrapped up the No. 1 seed heading into the final day of the regular season, as they defeated both Trinity Catholic and Danbury and thus owned both head-to-head tiebreakers. They finished in a tie with Trinity at 14-2, but earned the nod via tiebreaker.
Trinity defeated city rival Stamford 69-55 to secure the No. 2 seed.
The final two teams to clinch were the Bridgeport Central Hilltoppers and the Trumbull Eagles.
Trumbull earned its spot with a 53-50 win over Danbury, a victory which also secured a spot for Central.
Wilton, which could have gotten in with a three-way tie or just a Trumbull loss, forced the issue by defeating Ludlowe 67-48 on Wednesday
Wilton ultimately ended up in a tie with Norwalk for the eighth spot, but the Bears earned the No. 8 seed based on their win over Wilton this season.
Warde, which knocked off Ridgefield, 67-65, on a jumper by Sean Conway with 1.2 seconds remaining, earned the No. 4 seed. Conway had 40 points for Warde, and Brendan McNamara had 31 for Ridgefield.
Trumbull, Central and Stamford all finished with league records ot 11-5, with Trumbull taking the No. 5 seed based on its wins over the other two teams. Central defeated Stamford this season and took the No. 6 seed, with Stamford finishing at No. 7.