Sports
Trinity Catholic In Driver's Seat For Final Spot In FCIAC Boys Basketball Playoffs
Crusaders can lock up the No. 8 seed with a win at Wilton on Wednesday
The race for the final spot in the FCIAC boys basketball playoffs has come down to a two-team battle between Trinity Catholic and Harding.
The teams enter Wednesday's regular-season finale tied for eighth in the conference standings with 11-7 league marks.
However, the Crusaders are clearly in the driver's seat as they hold the tiebreaker edge based on a 71-63 victory at Harding on Jan. 23.
Find out what's happening in Stamfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Trinity Catholic also has a much easier final opponent and can clinch a playoff spot with a victory at Wilton, which has only one league win all season.
If the Crusaders somehow lose to the Warriors, there's also a good chance they could back into the playoffs as Harding has a much more difficult test against playoff-bound McMahon (13-4).
Find out what's happening in Stamfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Trinity Catholic-Harding survivor will be locked into the No. 8 seed and face the top seed in the first round of the playoffs, which are set for Saturday at Fairfield Ludlowe.
St. Joseph (16-1) currently holds the top spot. But if the Cadets drop their finale at Stamford and Ridgefield beats Norwalk and Ludlowe, the Tigers (15-2) grab the No. 1 seed based on their 50-44 victory over St.Joseph early in the season.
Last season, Trinity Catholic saw its string of seven consecutive appearances in the FCIAC finals snapped.
The Crusaders (11-8 overall) have endured an up-and-down campaign, but they put themselves in good position with a 75-57 upset of Ridgefield on Feb. 14.
It may turn out that Monday's 66-54 loss at Stamford will not be costly for the Crusaders.
If Trinity Catholic does get in, it will complete a impressive sweep for the three city schools as Westhill and Stamford already have locked up berth in the FCIAC playoffs.
Here is the quarterfinal schedule for Saturday (all games are at Ludlowe):
No. 3 vs. No. 6 at Noon
No. 2 vs. No. 7 at 2 p.m.
No. 4 vs. No. 5 at 5 p.m.
No. 1 vs. No. 8 at 7 p.m.
The semifinals and finals are set for next Monday and Tuesday at Bridgeport's Webster Bank Arena.
