Hoosiers Nutmeg Style

March Madness isn't just about UConn, Duke and UCLA. There are high school tournaments going on in all 50 states and the level of excitement in many a small town gym is off the scales.

Last night I had the good fortune of photographing the CIAC Division I quarterfinal match-up between Xavier HS Falcons (Middletown) and Crosby HS Bulldogs (Waterbury) at the New Haven Athletic Center. The Bulldogs were the defending state champs and heavy favorites coming into the game. Xavier was the 20th seed in Division I based on 6 regular season losses, but had already knocked off a very strong East Hartford team.

Xavier jumped to an early lead against Crosby, but the Bulldog's height advantage steadily eroded the margin. Crosby took a halftime lead and started pulling away in the 4th quarter.

At the 2:45 mark of the final quarter, Crosby was up 10. Xavier, sensing the season was over, turned to a frantic full court press and forced 4 consecutive turnovers to pull within 1 with 12 seconds remaining. Crosby had the ball in the frontcourt coming off a time out and only had to inbound the pass to hold on to the victory.

It didn't happen that way. Xavier picked off the inbound pass and drove the length of the floor for a layup and the win. A 1,000 fans went into a spastic frenzy and a 1,000 fans stood stunned. Final score, Xavier 68 Crosby 67.

It was a great game played with a ton of raw emotion. And while they all look like men, most of the players are still susceptible to the mistakes of a child. Therein is the beauty of the tournament - anything can happen and it does.

P.S. If you go to any games in the next round, leave your guns at home. Last night I had to go through security screening to get into the game. This is serious stuff!

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