Clingan helps Bristol Central win Div. II title and finish season undefeated

Bristol Central pulled away in the second half to beat Northwest Catholic and win the CIAC Division II championship Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Arena. (Photo courtesy CIAC).

Bristol Central’s Donovan Clingan scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the second half to help lead the Rams to the second state championship in school history Saturday night after a 56-36 victory over Northwest Catholic in the CIAC Division II championship game at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville.

Central, the No. 1 team in the latest GameTImeCT top 10 poll, finished the season undefeated at 28-0 and capture their first state title since 1990.

It was a two-point game at halftime with Central holding a 22-20 lead. But the Rams shut down Northwest Catholic in the second, holding the Lions to just 19 percent shooting from the floor. Central outscored the Lions, 34-16 in the second half.

Clingan was the dominant player as the two-time Gatorade State Player of the Year was expected to be. Clingan. The 7-foot-2 senior who will be at UConn in the fall, scored 25 points and pulled down 24 rebounds. Damion Glasper added 15 points for the Rams.

Matt Curtis had 15 points for Northwest Catholic (25-3).

Division V: Windham 62, SMSA 56
Playing in the state championship final for just the second time in their history, the Windham High boys basketball team beat Hartford’s Sports Medicine Science Academy (SMSA), 62-56, in the CIAC Division V title game to win their first state title since 1941 on Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Windham’s Malcolm Hunter scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half to lift the No. 8 Whippets (21-7). Isaiah Alexis Manqual scored 21 points and grabbed a crucial offensive rebound with 25 seconds to go and slammed it home to keep Windham in control.

Windham led by 11 points with 4:38 remaining in the game but the No. 2 Tigers cut the lead to three point shot from Kemain Thompson with 50 seconds remaining, 57-54. SMSA fouled Windham’s Jayden Villafame who missed the front end of a 1-and-1.

But Manqual grabbed the rebound and slammed down a dunk to extend the lead to five. SMSA cut the lead to three again with 25 seconds left but the Whippets hit their foul shots to secure the second state championship in program history.

Windham beat Bristol High School in the 1941 Class B championship game, 25-24.

Daniel Hernandez had 18 points for SMSA (22-5), which was playing in its first state title game. Thompson added 14 for the NCCC champions.

One of SMSA’s two losses in the league this was to Canton in a 46-42 decision on February 7 with Matthew Benedetti sinking a career-high 23 points.

Division III: Hand 56, Kolbe Cathedral 39
It’s been nearly a half century since the Hand High boys basketball team played for a state championship. The Tigers weren’t going to waste their opportunity to bring home a championship.

No. 3 Hand limited top-seeded Kolbe Cathedral to just 10 points in the first half and rolled to a 56-39 victory in the CIAC Division III championship game Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Hand last played in the state finals back in 1974 and had never won a state title before.

Hudson Geremia led the Tigers (23-4) with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Daniel Hilmer added 12 points. Kolbe (22-4) was led by George Najimi with 19 points, five steals and four rebounds. Tyler Staples-Santos added 10 points for Kolbe.

Sunday’s games
Division IV final: No. 4 Granby (19-4) vs. No. 6 Bloomfield (19-4), 12:30 p.m.
Division I final: No. 8 East Catholic (18-5) vs. No. 2 Notre Dame-West Haven (22-1), 8:15 p.m.