Schools

Middletown Falls to New London In CIAC Tournament

Whalers defeat Xavier 92-77 in first match-up.

The boys’ basketball team passed its first test in the CIAC Class LL state tournament on Tuesday, defeating Middletown's Xavier High School 92-77.

The Whalers’ record now stands at 19-2, or 22-2 when the victories from the ECC tournament are included. The Falcons finish their season at 11-12.

Xavier had an early lead, but New London stayed ahead from the first quarter when a three-pointer by Khaleed Fields put the score at 5-4. The Whalers built up a comfortable buffer, as Xavier scored one foul shot and New London added two three-pointers and four baskets to make the score 19-5 before the Falcons scored their next points. Xavier began to close the gap at the end at the end of the quarter, which closed with the Whalers leading 21-12.

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New London started the second quarter with a solid defense, halting the Falcons from scoring for two and a half minutes and increasing the gap to 27-12. The second and third quarters also saw strong offensives from both teams. The Whalers held the edge, with the score standing at 44-28 at the half and 66-49 at the third quarter.

New London managed to keep a 20-point lead on Xavier for most of the fourth quarter, with the Falcons closing the deficit to 15 points with a rally in the last minute.

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Jovan Santos-Knox of Xavier was the top scorer of the game, putting up 34 points. Kris Dunn and Keith Porter of New London followed with 30 and 18 points, respectively. James Sullivan was the second highest scorer for Xavier with 17 points.

New London will next face Holy Cross (15-6), which defeated Bridgeport Central 65-56 on Monday. This game will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday at New London High School.

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