WINDSOR – The two CCC boys basketball heavyweights, Windsor and East Catholic, usually face each other later in the season.
But this year, the schedule had the two rivals playing each other on the first day of the season and neither coach was happy about having to goes up against each other on Day 1.
East Catholic beat Windsor, last year’s Div. II champion, 72-60 on Tuesday night. Both teams had new looks.
East Catholic, which lost in the Div. I quarterfinals last year, lost four starters but added junior guard Sincere Folk, who transferred from South Shore (N.Y.). Folk had 14 points and eight assists and junior guard Kahil Bell had 16 points, including five 3-pointers.
Windsor brought back eight players from its state championship team but lost a number of key players to graduation. Two sophomores stood out Tuesday night: Missoni Brown, the MVP of the championship game as a freshman last year, had 18 points for the Warriors and Alex Weaver came off the bench to score 19. Senior Sean Evans added 11.
“It was so sloppy, it was a painful game to watch,” East Catholic coach Luke Reilly said. “First day out, that’s what you expect. I’m glad we won.
“It was great competition, great environment. A road test early in the season is a good thing.”
East Catholic went up 10-2 right away and led 19-9 at the end of the first quarter and Windsor never really recovered. The Eagles, which hit 12 3-pointers, led 35-24 at halftime.
East Catholic has only senior, Omar Oquendo, who had 14 points, and football star Joey Montalvo, a junior guard, added 11 points.