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Nalyce Dudley of New London girls basketball
scott ericson
The semifinals are set in Class L and MM after an exciting quarterfinal round. Semifinals for L and MM are scheduled for Friday night, all at neutral sites.
The quarterfinals for Class LL, M and S will take place Wednesday night.
Here is the best of what happened in the quarterfinals Monday night including big performances from some of the state's best players, several of whom are in the running for the GameTimeCT All-State MVP.
New London's Dudley Does Right
Every year a star player steps up her game even further in the state tournament and this year it looks like it's going to be Nalyce Dudley of New London.
With the Whalers trailing Sheehan by six midway through the fourth quarter, Dudley scored 13-straight points and No. 6 New London advanced with a 47-41 win over No. 3 Sheehan in the Class MM quarterfinals.
Dudley scored a game-high 28 points as New London advanced Friday's semifinals to face No. 7 Wolcott at a neutral site.
CT coaching record on hold
Northwestern did all they could in the Class MM quarterfinal against Hand but came up just short of getting coach Fred Williams career win number 705 which would have broken the state record.
Despite few thinking Northwestern could win, the Highlanders took Hand from the SCC to double overtime before going down 54-51.
The Highlanders reached overtime on a long 3-pointer by sophomore Maddie Topa who did all she could, scoring 33 points.
No. 8 seeded Hand will meet No. 4 Mercy in the semifinals at a neutral site.
Windsor's Franks on Fire
No. 12 Windsor became the only double-digit seed to reach a semifinal so far with a 57-45 win over No. 4 Torrington in the quarterfinals. That followed an upset of CCC champions No. 5 Simsbury in the second round.
Windsor was once again led by junior forward Ayanna Franks who exploded for 35 points as she keeps her name alive in state MVP voting.
Windsor will face No. 1 Pomperaug at a neutral site Friday in the semifinals.
Pomperaug defeated North Haven in the quarterfinals 61-32 behind Claudia Schneider with 19 points and 9 steals and Taylor Brennan who had 12 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 7 steals.
Home Sweet Home
Senior All-State guard Mya Zaccagnini of Holy Cross scored 16 points as the No. 2 Crusaders defeated No. 7 New Milford 56-42.
Playing her final home game, Zaccagnini finished her career never losing a game on the Crusaders home court.
Holy Cross will face No. 3 E.O. Smith in the Class L semifinals Friday at a neutral site.
Seeded Upsets
Windsor, Hand and New London pulled off the three seeded-upsets
Conference Breakdown
There are four teams left in each of Class L and MM.
In Class L, the CCC has two semifinalists (Windsor and E.O. Smith) the SWC has Pomperaug and Holy Cross is representing the NVL.
In Class MM, Hand and Mercy will meet in the semifinals, guaranteeing the SCC a representative in the state championship game. On the other side of the draw the ECC gets New London and the NVL sends Wolcott.