The SCC is celebrating its 30th year in 2023-24. The league is also proud to be hosting its 30th boys and girls basketball playoff competition. The 2024 tournaments are presented by Vertical Hoops.
Here are the key moments in SCC basketball history.
December 8, 1994 – It is the first date of competition for the 17 girls teams. Shelton opens up league play with a 42-17 win over Sheehan, while Wilbur Cross defeats Daniel Hand, 42-27. Mercy opens its first season as a SCC member with a non-league win over E.O. Smith, 61-18.
December 15, 1994 – It is the first date of competition for the 18 boys teams. North Haven opens defeats Amity Regional, 84-82, in double overtime, while East Haven holds off Cheshire, 63-61. West Haven defeats Hillhouse, 81-67.
February 16, 1995 – The SCC’s first three divisional winners are crowned – Daniel Hand (9-1) captures the Hammonasset title and Sacred Heart Academy (7-1) wins the Quinnipiac. Shelton (9-1) wins the Housatonic crown.
February 22, 1995 – The first SCC girls’ basketball tournament, an eight-team affair held at Branford High School, concludes with second-seeded Shelton, under the direction of head coach Howie Gura, defeating top-seeded Sacred Heart Academy, 42-36, in the championship game. In the consolation game, Cheshire defeats Daniel Hand, 49-48.
February 24, 1995 – The SCC’s first three boys divisional winners are crowned – Hillhouse (10-0) captures the Hammonasset; Xavier (10-0) wins the Quinnipiac; and Amity Regional and Cheshire (9-1) share the Housatonic crown.
March 1, 1995 – The first SCC boys’ basketball tournament, an eight-team affair held at Sheehan High School, concludes with top-seeded Xavier defeating sixth-seeded Fairfield Prep, 62-36, in the championship game. West Haven defeats Wilbur Cross, 85-65, in the consolation game.
March 9, 1996 – Led by Davidson-bound Jen O’Brien and her game-high 21 points, Mercy wins the Class L girls basketball title with a 67-54 victory over Bristol Central. It is the first state title won by a SCC school in the sport of girls basketball.
March 22, 1997 – Behind 27 points and 12 rebounds from Dan Flaherty, Fairfield Prep (22-4) defeats Norwalk, 66-60, to win the Class LL boys basketball state championship. It is the first state title for the SCC in the sport of boys basketball.
March 5, 1998 – Second-seeded Wilbur Cross defeats city-rival and top-seeded Hillhouse, 81-78, in the SCC boys basketball championship game at East Haven High School. It is the Governors’ first of three straight SCC titles.
March 13, 1999 – The 15th-seeded Hand girls basketball team wins the Class L state championship, 72-68, over ninth-seeded Killingly at Central Connecticut State University. The Tigers, who finished third in the Hammonasset Division behind Guilford (25-2) and Hillhouse (24-3) during the regular-season, finished the season 18-7.
February 14, 2000 – The girls basketball regular season ends with seven teams sharing division titles. Guilford and Hillhouse shared the Hammonasset Division title with 9-1 records, while Sheehan and Lyman Hall split the Housatonic title (9-1). In the Quinnipiac Division, a three-way tie (5-3) occurred between Wilbur Cross, Mercy and Hamden.
March 10, 2001 – Guilford completed a perfect 27-0 season by winning the Class L girls basketball state championship. The Indians, which won the Hammonasset Division and SCC playoff titles, defeated Brien McMahon, 87-60, in the final at Central Connecticut State University.
December 18, 2001 – East Haven defeats Hillhouse, 65-58, in a Hammonasset Division boys basketball contest. The win snaps the Academics’ 32-game division winning streak. Hillhouse’s last division loss occurred on February 10, 1998 – a 63-60 setback to Guilford.
February 28, 2002 – After winning its first Housatonic Division title (9-1), the Career boys basketball team captures the SCC playoff title with a 69-57 win over cross-town rival Wilbur Cross.
October 15, 2002 – The New Haven Athletic Center opens its doors. The all-purpose field house is 105,000 square feet and is the largest athletic facility in the state of Connecticut. In addition to hosting athletic events for the three city schools, the athletic center will be the home of SCC indoor track meets as well as numerous other league activities.
March 15, 2003 – Two weeks after meeting in the SCC championship game, Guilford defeats Hillhouse, 61-41, in the Class L girls basketball state championship game at Central Connecticut State University. That same day, Career wins its first-ever state title with a 59-46 victory over Northwestern Regional in Class M.
December 2, 2003 – The SCC Board of Governors voted to accept the City of Milford’s application for Jonathan Law and Foran high schools to join the SCC.
March 13, 2003 – Hillhouse completes a 27-1 season with the Class L girls basketball state title. The Academics defeated Pomperaug, 62-53, in the championship game at Central Connecticut State University.
August 25, 2004 – The SCC realigns into four divisions and announces the name of its fourth division – Oronoque.
March 18, 2006 – The Hillhouse boys basketball team completed a perfect 27-0 season with an 81-43 romp over East Catholic in the Division I state championship game at the University of Hartford. The Academics, who two weeks earlier won their first SCC title since 1996, won their first state title since 1990 and were the consensus number-one team in the final state polls.
March 17, 2007 – At Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, the Hillhouse boys basketball team wins its second straight state title – again defeating East Catholic, 55-39. The Academics (27-1) repeat as the consensus number-one team in the final state polls.
April 17, 2007 – The SCC athletic directors vote to expand the boys and girls basketball tournament fields. All teams that win at least eight regular-season games qualify for the tournament.
February 23, 2008 – Two days after defeating 3rd-ranked Branford in the first round, the 14th-seeded Amity boys basketball team upsets two-time defending SCC champion Hillhouse, 61-52, in the SCC quarterfinals. The Spartans would go on to defeat seventh-seeded Career in the semifinals before falling top-seeded Wilbur Cross in the championship game.
March 8, 2008 – Behind a game-high 40 points from Illicia Mathis, Career wins the Class LL girls basketball state title with a 71-66 over New Britain. The Panthers (26-2) would finish as the number-one girls basketball team in the final state polls.
December 23, 2008 – One of the SCC’s original members – Derby – accepts an invitation to compete in the Naugatuck Valley League starting in fall 2009.
March 23, 2009 – Hillhouse, which won the SCC and Class L titles, finished as the top girls basketball team in the New Haven Register, Hartford Courant and Connecticut SportsWriters Alliance season-ending state polls. The Academics defeated Fairfield Warde, 65-59, in the Class L title game on March 20 at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Two other SCC teams – SCC and Class LL runner-up Career and Class LL quarterfinalist Mercy – also were ranked in the top ten.
February 23, 2010 – Behind the spectacular play of Tournament MOP Courtney Schissler, seventh-seeded Branford defeats top-seeded Hillhouse, 70-57, to win the girls basketball championship at Quinnipiac’s TD Bank Sports Center. The Hornets are the lowest-seeded team to ever win the SCC title.
March 2, 2010 – North Haven holds off top-seeded Hillhouse, 41-34, in the boys basketball championship game at Quinnipiac University’s TD Bank Sports Center. It is the second-lowest scoring game in SCC playoff history.
March 20, 2010 – The SCC captures two basketball state titles – Sheehan boys (Class M) and Hillhouse girls (Class L) – in a busy day at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Sheehan bested Bloomfield, 72-61, to win its first state title, while Hillhouse bested Wethersfield, 47-45, to win its second straight. Two other SCC teams – Mercy girls (Class LL) and Hillhouse boys (Class LL) – finished as state runners-up.
March 17, 2012 – The Career boys basketball team, which won the SCC title three weeks earlier, captured its first-ever state title – defeating Northwest Catholic, 51-49, in the Class L final at Mohegan Sun Arena.
March 28, 2012 – Hillhouse’s Bria Holmes is the first place from the state of Connecticut to play in the prestigious McDonald’s All-America girls basketball game. Holmes scores 13 points to help the East to a 79-78 win over the West at The United Center in Chicago.
March 16, 2013 – Maria Weslyj hits a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to lift Mercy to a 54-53 victory over Lauralton Hall in the Class LL girls basketball championship game. It was the Tigers’ fourth straight title game berth.
March 16, 2013 – Two weeks after meeting for the SCC title, the state’s top best boys basketball teams – Hillhouse and Fairfield Prep – meet for the fourth time in the Class LL state championship game. The Academics prevail, 52-42, to earn the state’s #1 final ranking.
March 5, 2014 – Fairfield Prep captures two league titles in one night. The Jesuits’ swimming team wins its 10th straight league crown, while the basketball team records it’s first-ever league title with a 56-52 win over Hillhouse.
July 1, 2014 – Lauralton Hall of Milford officially joined the SCC as the league’s 23rd full-time member school.
March 21, 2015 – Playing in its third state title game in four years, the Fairfield Prep boys basketball team defeats Westhill, 51-50, to win the Class LL championship at Mohegan Sun.
March 1, 2017 – Before a sell-out crowd at Quinnipiac’s TD Bank Sports Center, Hillhouse defeats previously-undefeated Notre Dame, 70-62, in the SCC boys basketball championship game – the most anticipated match-up in league history.
April 13, 2017 – Notre Dame’s Tremont Waters plays in the Jordan Brand Classic All-Star game in Brooklyn, N.Y. Waters is the first SCC basketball player to earn a spot in the prestigious game. Waters went on to play for LSU and then professionally in the NBA and overseas.
January 24, 2018 – Daniel Hand defeats Hillhouse, 46-45, in a Housatonic Division boys basketball. It was the Academics’ first loss to a SCC divisional opponent since February 14, 2005 (a span of 96 games), when Daniel Hand also defeated Hillhouse, 68-65, in a Hammonasset Division contest.
March 17, 2018 – Mercy (Class LL) and East Haven (Class M) each win girls basketball state titles. Mercy defeated Hall, 49-37, and East Haven held off SCC-rival Career, 49-47, on a buzzer beater. It is the third time in league history (2003 and 2011) that the SCC won multiple girls basketball state titles.
March 4, 2020 – Wilbur Cross wins its second straight (and seventh overall) SCC boys basketball title with a 49-48 win over top-seeded Notre Dame at the Floyd Little Athletic Center. The sixth-seeded Governors defeated #11 Amity Regional (58-45), #3 Shelton (56-53) and #2 Hillhouse (63-53) to reach the title game.
March 12, 2020 – A worldwide pandemic called COVID-19 forces the CIAC to cancel the winter state tournaments (including boys and girls basketball) and the entire spring sports season.
Jan. 19, 2021 – Due to rising COVID-19 numbers throughout the state, this was the first day of winter sports season. Once again, there were no state tournaments and SCC teams would have to play within the conference and in limited capacity. The SCC hosted two tournaments for both boys and girls. West Haven (Div. I) and Lyman Hall (Div. II) captured boys titles, while Hamden (Div. I) and Sacred Heart Academy (Div. II) won girls title.
March 2, 2022 – After finishing as the SCC runner-up the previous four seasons, Notre Dame wins its first-ever league boys basketball title, defeating Fairfield Prep, 53-45, on March 2 at the Floyd Little Athletic Center. The Green Knights eventually reached the state Division I championship game before falling to East Catholic.
March 19, 2022 – The Daniel Hand boys basketball team, which made the SCC semifinals for the first time in 15 seasons, wins the Division III state championship – its first ever state title – defeating top-seeded Kolbe Cathedral, 56-39, at Mohegan Sun Arena.
March 20, 2022 – Sacred Heart Academy wins the SCC girls basketball title with a 55-37 victory over second-seeded Daniel Hand on Feb. 23. The Sharks then proceed to win the Class MM state girls basketball title, holding off St. Joseph, 52-50, on March 20 at Mohegan Sun Arena. The Sharks finished the season with a 26-1 final record.
March 18, 2023 – Hamden won its first-ever girls basketball state title with a dominating 63-48 victory over previously undefeated Fairfield Ludlowe at Mohegan Sun Arena. The Green Dragons, who captured the SCC title on Feb. 22, finished the 2022-23 season with a perfect 27-0 record – becoming just the second SCC team to finish a perfect season. In 2001, Guilford also completed an undefeated season (27-0).
February 21, 2024 – Top-seeded Hamden defeats #2 Sacred Heart Academy, 82-58, to win the SCC girls basketball title. It is the matchup of the state’s top two teams. The Philpotts twin sisters Alana (21 points, 6 rebounds) and Leah (15 points, 15 rebounds) lead the way for the Green Dragons, who won their fifth league title in the last six years.
February 28, 2024 – Top-seed Notre Dame uses a big second half from sophomore Abdou Toure, who scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the final 16 minutes, to defeat #2 seed Hillhouse, 61-47. It is the Green Knights’ third straight SCC title.
March 17, 2024 – Notre Dame becomes the second team in SCC history (joining 27-0 Hillhouse in 2006) to finish a perfect season. The Green Knights defeated St. Bernard, 52-46, to finish a perfect 28-0 and earn status as the unanimous #1 team in the state. Two hours earlier, the Hamden girls basketball team captured its second straight Class LL state title with a 46-40 victory over SCC-rival Sacred Heart Academy. The Green Dragon were also voted as the consensus number-one team in the final state polls.
