By Michael Letendre
Who else could be the number one ranked scholastic boys basketball team to end the 2021-22 season other than the squad from Bristol Central, a program that hasn’t lost a game in over two years?
Well, the leading poll in the state, GameTimeCT, answered that question as the Rams ended the final standings as the top ranked team in Connecticut.
After all the votes were tabulated, Central (28-0) was ranked No. 1 – tallying all 570 votes after knocking off Northwest Catholic on Saturday, 56-36, from Uncasville last Saturday.
Central was the top-rated squad the entire year, going wire-to-wire in that position in the poll, and last season’s final tally had the Rams at number one as well.
The Bristol program are winners of 43 straight games which continues to be the longest streak in Connecticut and will be to open the 2022-23 scholastic season.
The Lions (25-3) were ranked second coming into the Division II championship game but after that 20-point defeat, there’s a new No. 2 team.
Division I champ East Catholic (20-6 overall, 512 points) slotted into the second place to end the year while Northwest (492 points) ended up in third.
That meant three squads from the Central Connecticut Conference ended up in the top three places of the final GameTimeCT poll which is one heck of a finish – like last year’s final rankings.
Notre Dame-West Haven (25-2, 458) earned fourth place, Hand (23-4, 388) won the Division III championship and took fifth while Windsor (20-5, 368) ended up sixth – making it four of the top six ranked squads belonging to the CCC.
In seventh place was Fairfield Prep (22-4, 311), Division IV champs Bloomfield (21-5, 259), another prime example of the dominance from the CCC, earned eighth.
Kolbe Cathedral (22-4, 237) finished up in ninth place and rounding off the top-10 was Wilton (21-5, 198), one of two teams that took Bristol Central to overtime this year along with Wilbur Cross.
Overall, Central went 6-0 this season against the final GameTimeCT Top-10 teams.
Falling out of the top 10 in the final poll included Naugatuck (23-1) and Ridgefield (22-3).
Conard earned votes as well, ending up in 14th place with 132 points off its sterling 22-4 ledger.
Wilbur Cross, behind 31 votes, finished in 20th place.
