Super Saturday - FCIAC Boys Basketball Style

During intros before Ludlowe/Ridgefield

One of the best, if not the best, days of the high school sports year is the FCIAC boys' basketball quarterfinals. That was this Saturday, also known as Super Saturday. 

Eight teams, four games. All at Fairfield Warde. 

Lots of great players and coaches. 

Tremendous job by those running and working the day. From Dave Schulz and Matt Narwold to Jack Kelly, Franey Donavan, Art Cockerham, and so many others. A total team effort for a long day. 

On the court, the first game saw an upset, with the six-seed Danbury, knocking off the three-seed Stamford, 50-46. 

In game two, Trumbull got out to a 15-3 lead over Warde after a quarter and came away with a 57-38 victory, despite Warde cutting the deficit to four in the fourth quarter. 

The third game, much like the previous one, saw a team jump out to a convicting first quarter lead. Staples led Wilton 19-5 after one period, in route to a 60-43 win. 

The nightcap saw the number-eight seed Ludlowe get out to a strong 12-6 lead after the first quarter, before the top seed Ridgefield outscored the Falcons 20-9 in the second quarter to take a halftime lead. The Tigers would eventually go on to win by a score of 55-37. 

Trumbull will meet Danbury in the first semifinal on Tuesday at 5:30pm at Wilton High School. Staples and Ridgefield will face off in the nightcap at 7:15pm. The winners head to Thursday's championship. 

Listen to the semifinals and championship on Robcasting Radio with Rob Adams on the call. 

FCIAC Girls Basketball Quarterfinals and some wrestling notes

Stamford and New Canaan FCIAC quarterfinal action

It was FCIAC girls' basketball quarterfinal Saturday. 

Eight teams, four games. All at Staples High School in Westport. 

Both Ludlowe and Warde were represented in the tournament. 

Ludlowe, the number six seed, opened the day versus the three-seed Ridgefield. 

It was a close game throughout, but Ridgefield was able to come away with a 10-point win, 45-35. 

For Ludlowe, Kate Cimador finished with 19 points and Hayden McBean finished nine points. 

The next game was number two Stamford and number seven New Canaan. The Rams were able to come up with the upset victory, 47-42. 

Then it was Warde's turn. 

In the second quarter, Trumbull opened up a 16-9 lead before Warde went on a run to take a 18-16 lead with 1:28 left in the half. 

At halftime, the Mustangs held a one-point advantage, 20-19. 

The third quarter was extremely tight and low scoring. Emmy Carley hit a fadeaway buzzer beating jump shot to knot the score at 26 after three quarters. 

Trumbull got a lead as large as five with two minutes to play but Warde would come back to tie the game at 33 with under one minute left. Both teams had chances to win with under 20 seconds left but couldn't convert and the game would go to overtime. 

In the extra session, Warde would take a three-point lead with under one minute to play and the Mustangs would hold on for the three-point victory. 

Ryanne Gulbin led the Mustangs with 19 points. 

Warde advances to the FCIAC semifinals, where they will play the top-seed, St. Joseph, who defeated Wilton in the nightcap, on Tuesday at 6pm at Trumbull High School.  

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In other playoff action, congrats to Warde Wrestling on winning the Class LL State Championship. 

In addition, congrats to Ludlowe's Dylan Sherman who won the Class L Wrestling Championship at 144 pounds. 

Chiefs Repeat

Chiefs Twitter 

Tremendous game. 

Well, was it? Tremendous second half and overtime, for sure. 

Of course, I am talking about the Super Bowl. 

Chiefs 25 49ers 22 - Final (OT)

Kansas City wins the Super Bowl for back-to-back years. 

The first half, while competitive, was not great football. Multiple turnovers and not a lot going on offensively.  

The fourth quarter and overtime were electrifying. 

The special teams were a huge factor, especially the kicking and punting for both teams. 

Happy I am not a fan of either team. 

I was torn with who to root for but felt myself rooting for the 49ers. The Chiefs have just won too often and the Taylor Swift craziness is just too much. 

It was tough to root for the Niners after they eliminated the Packers but I felt like they were the underdog and that's always fun to root for. Plus, my guys Charlie Mahoney and Sam Sweeney are both 49er fans, so that helped in rooting for them. Feel for both of them.  

What the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes have done is pretty remarkable. Truly a dynasty. 

Congrats to the Chiefs. 

Now bring on baseball season. 

Ludlowe/Warde Basketball 2024 Edition

The crowd at one point in the night. It would get bigger than this. 

Friday night was the annual Ludlowe vs Warde girls' and boys' basketball doubleheader. 

This year, the games took place at Ludlowe as they rotate ever year. 

This was a big discussion, as Ludlowe is a lot smaller than Warde and with online tickets, the game was a sellout. Now, it's often been a sellout when at Ludlowe, but it sold out earlier in the week due to the pre-sale of tickets. 

It made for a crazy packed gymnasium but overall, I thought everything went very smooth. 

As for the games, it was a split decision. 

Ludlowe won the girls game, coming away with a close, hard fought 29-26 victory. 

In the boys' game, Warde came out on top, 50-36. 

The crowd was terrific for both games. From the Nest (Ludlowe student section) to the Stampede (Warde Student Section), to the youth basketball players, parents and other Fairfield community basketball fans.

The games are also Coaches vs Cancer fundraiser games as money is raised in a variety of ways including but not limited to the players raising money in advance, the concession stand at the game and a 50/50 raffle. I've heard a lot of money was raised for cancer research, which is phenomenal. 

Great job by everyone. From Athletic Director's Todd Parness and Gina DiGiacomo to the rest of the staff, parents who were involved, players, coaches, fans and all of the other support staff. It was a crazy day and week, but happy to get it over with and move on with the rest of the season. 

A great night of basketball and a great night for the Town of Fairfield.