CIAC Division II Boys Basketball Tournament Preview and Prediction

With defending champion Manchester in Division I, the door is open for top seeds Windsor, Trumbull and East Hartford, as the CIAC Division II state tournament tips off March 4; A potential Windsor–East Hartford rubber match is on the line.

The Newington Nor’Easters and the Platt Panthers boys basketball teams are two of the 34 playoff teams competing in the CIAC DII basketball tournament. / Dan Heary

The CIAC DII boys basketball state tournament tips off tomorrow, March 4, with a pair of play-in games. Bristol Eastern, Foran, Daniel Hand, and Wilbur Cross will each play tomorrow before the first-round begins two days later on Friday, March 6. 

Let’s explore everything we need to know ahead of the DII state tournament:

Defending Champs: Manchester

The Manchester Red Hawks defeated New London 77-74 to win last year’s DII state title. There will be a new state champion in DII as the Red Hawks moved up to DI this season, and are 0-20 entering the DI state tournament. 

Top Seeds: Windsor, Trumbull, East Hartford 

Two of the top three seeds in DII hail from the CCC, and have played each other twice this season. Number 1 Windsor and number 3 East Hartford recently battled for the CCC title with East Hartford coming out on top, 69-65. These two teams could very well meet again a third time in the playoffs. Trumbull, with an 18-2 regular season record, lost both games to FCIAC opponents but enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed. There’s a chance they run into East Hartford on their path to the state title game. 

Dark Horses: Hillhouse, Platt, Bunnell

DII is almost as loaded as DI, arguably being the most talented division consisting of public high schools. Platt and Bunnell are each top-10 seeds at five and seven, with Hillhouse entering as the 11th-seed. 

Platt won 17 games in the regular season in a competitive CCC schedule, suffering close losses to top-10 teams in Windsor and Northwest Catholic. Bunnell won 16 regular season games and was the SWC runner-up this season, falling to Notre Dame-Prep. Bunnell’s Rody Rocketts helped lead Bunnell to back-to-back DIII state titles and will look to lead his team to a DII title this year.

Hillhouse showed they can hang with anyone in the state, going to the wire with Notre Dame-West Haven 82-77 in the SCC quarterfinals. The Academics actually led Hillhouse in the fourth before West Haven’s Abdou Toure hit a go-ahead three. 

Top Players: Missoni Brown (Windsor), Sean Wilson (Trumbull), Kehari Walker (East Hartford), Josiah Sims (Newington), Efrain Brown (Platt), Alex Weaver (Windsor), Xavier Goode (Fitch)

Prediction: Windsor 

Windsor may have just lost the CCC Tournament to East Hartford, but in this year’s DII tournament, they seem to have an ‘easier’ path to the state title than East Hartford.

It wouldn't be a surprise to see Windsor and East Hartford match up a third time this season, and it would set up fireworks for arguably the best state title matchup this season. The two teams have split their two meetings this season with Windsor winning 80-55 in the regular season and East Hartford winning 69-65 for the CCC title.