Zanor column: High school hoops are here

Just thought I’d empty out my reporter’s notebook while thinking that with their new head coaching hire, the University of North Carolina football team has a decent shot to win their first ACC title since 1980.

Hoop Dreams

I’m looking forward to getting back inside high school basketball gymnasiums, where the goal and mantra for every Connecticut team is “Run to the Sun.” This year’s state finals take place March 15-16 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

The Norwich Free Academy boys basketball team went 10-9 a year ago under first-year coach Jeff Brown. I like what I saw from the Wildcats towards the end of last season. They were much improved, even going toe-to-toe in a loss against state power St. Bernard.

The Wildcats’ schedule, however, looks brutal. Besides six ECC games against New London, St. Bernard, and Griswold, NFA’s non-league slate includes Lincoln, R.I. (Dec. 23), East Catholic (Dec. 30), Daniel Hand (Jan. 29) and West Haven (Feb. 1).

Courtney Gomez begins her sixth season as the head coach of the NFA girls basketball team. Two years after a three-win season, the Wildcats broke through last season in a big way. They finished 14-10 and reached the Class LL state quarterfinals with wins over Manchester and No. 2 St. Joseph.

Look for NFA to take another step forward behind senior forwards Emily Orcutt and Jordyn Bay-kent, senior guard Brooke Stringer, junior forward Petra Berry, junior guard Sophie Miner and sophomore guards Selia Atchinson, Savannah Guernsey, and Jada Harris.

NFA’s traditionally tough non-league slate includes Conard (Dec. 27), Pomperaug (Jan. 4), Newtown (Jan. 11), Newington (Jan. 20), Mercy (Jan. 22) and Daniel Hand (Feb. 12).

I’m also keeping an eye on the Griswold and Killingly boys basketball teams. Longtime Wolverines coach Rob Mileski has a solid nucleus returning, including Bulletin Player of the Year Kaiden Kazlauskas. Griswold won the ECC Division III regular season title a year ago. The Wolverines lost to Amity in the first round of the CIAC Division III state tournament but have moved back to Division IV this season.

Killingly returns Johnny Kazantzis, Quin Crowley, Quinn Sumner and Ashton Goodwin. Killingly went through some growing pains a year ago after the graduation of Yianni Baribeau but should be primed to bounce back this season.

Preseason polls

It’s always an honor to vote alongside the state’s print media and broadcasters in the GameTimeCT boys and girls basketball polls. Here are the votes I submitted this week:

Boys Preseason Top 15

1. Notre Dame-West Haven

2. Notre Dame Prep

3. St. Bernard

4. Staples

5. Kolbe Cathedral

6. Northwest Catholic

7. Windsor

8. East Catholic

9. New London

10. West Haven

11. Hillhouse

12. WCA

13. Holy Cross

14. Ridgefield

15. Cheney Tech

Girls Preseason Top 15

1. Mercy

2. Northwest Catholic

3. Sacred Heart Academy

4. Fairfield Warde

5. Pomperaug

6. Immaculate

7. Trumbull

8. Danbury

9. Stamford

10. Hand

11. Norwich Free Academy

12. Sheehan

13. New Canaan

14. Staples

15. Hamden

More: ‘This community loves football’: Killingly rubbing elbows with best programs in the state

Bowl Mania

The college football bowl season kicks off this week with games in Texas (Frisco Bowl), Florida (Boca Raton Bowl), California (LA Bowl) and Louisiana (New Orleans Bowl). The Los Angeles and New Orleans games are in Super Bowl venues SoFi Stadium and the Superdome.

My question is this: With 41 bowl games, how the heck do we get UConn and Boston College playing at the same time in iconic baseball stadiums?

The Huskies are headed to Boston to play Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels in the Fenway Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 28. Kicking off an hour later at Yankee Stadium are the BC Eagles, who battle Nebraska in the Pinstripe Bowl.

UConn-North Carolina will be televised on ESPN at 11 a.m. BC-Nebraska is on ABC at noon.

I love college football. But I hate the college football postseason.

When it comes to the bowl games (there’s too many) and the college football playoffs (don’t like them), I am a “get off my lawn” purist. I can’t help it. I like the old days. I want to see the season end on Jan. 1 with eight bowl games. And I want the national champion voted by the media after those bowl games. Did you know at one time the national champion was voted by the sportswriters before the bowl games? (Okay … that’s a little wacky). I want to see broadcasters Lindsay Nelson at the Cotton Bowl and Keith Jackson yelling, “Whoa, Nellie!” at the Rose Bowl. (I know … those two guys aren’t with us anymore).

I hated the BCS, which used computers to pick the two teams to play for the national championship. I hated the four-team College Football Playoff. And the new 12-team playoff is an abomination. You’ve got Arizona State and Boise State seeded ahead of Texas, Penn State and Notre Dame.

I get it. It’s 2024. Money talks. Television rules. There will be a 16-team college football playoff in the near future as college football becomes more like the NFL.

But there was a glorious time when college football’s exciting regular season and all of those legendary rivalry games produced contenders for the coveted national championship trophy.

What’s wrong with these matchups on Jan. 1? Oregon versus Penn State (Rose Bowl); Texas versus Notre Dame (Cotton Bowl); Georgia versus Ohio State (Sugar Bowl); Tennessee versus Clemson (Orange Bowl); Boise State versus Arizona State (Fiesta Bowl).

If undefeated Oregon beats Penn State, they are the national champions. Simple.

And if the Nittany Lions upset the Ducks … ‘Whoa, Nellie! 

More: Zanor column: Killingly stepping up in football playoffs

STUCK IN THE 70s

On Dec. 9, 1973, the Boston Bruins trailed the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-1, with less than two minutes remaining at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Bobby Orr scored with 1:22 left, and then Phil Esposito netted a goal with just 22 seconds to play to give the Bruins a 3-3 tie against the Broad Street Bullies.

Orr and Johnny Bucyk had the assists on Esposito’s game-tying score. Bruins goaltender Gilles Gilbert made 27 saves, while Bernie Parent had 23 saves for the Flyers.

Six months later, the teams met in the Stanley Cup finals with the Flyers capturing their first NHL championship in six games.

Jimmy Zanor is a sportswriter for the Norwich Bulletin and can be reached at , jzanor@norwichbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter@jzanorNB.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Zanor column: High school hoops are here