By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – Very quickly, over a three-game stint in postseason play, the girls basketball team from St. Paul Catholic has absolutely caught fire.

After a quality 15-5 regular season campaign, the Falcons opened up the annual Naugatuck Valley League Tournament as the No. 3 seed.

The field was a good one as No. 2 Torrington and top ranked Holy Cross were the teams to beat.

But St. Paul defeated both those squads along the way as the program from Bristol went for the clean sweep.

On February 18, the Falcons defeated No. 6 Oxford 64-30 in quarterfinal play and in the semifinals, the locals topped Torrington 47-44.

And finally on Thursday night from Kennedy High School in Waterbury, it was St. Paul against No. 1 Holy Cross (20-3) in what turned into an epic final’s bout for the NVL title.

Back on January 31, the Falcons dropped Cross 76-71 to end the Crusaders 57-game win streak in NVL play and the rematch did not disappoint.

It was close throughout and as the contest was knotted at 38-38 through three quarters of play.

The Falcons were able to hold Cross to just nine fourth quarter points as St. Paul was crowned NVL champs behind a 51-47 win over the Crusaders.

St. Paul forward Audrey Tice, who started her scholastic career as a deep-dish reserve at Bristol Eastern before making her way over to Maltby Street as a sophomore, was named the MVP of the NVL Tournament.

She dropped in 19 points in the clinching win while Rebecca Kelly tallied 16 points and 13 rebounds. Kelsea Tefoe added four for the Falcons.

Tice scored 57 total points over NVL Tournament competition, good for a 19.0 points-per-game scoring clip.

Olivia Dahn, Haleigh Orzel, Zola Cudjoe, Kelly, Tefoe and Tice all played extremely well against the NVL’s top competition to win the championship.

How good have the Falcons been in NVL Tournament play over the years?

St. Paul has won the tournament three times since 2017.

Holy Cross, led by Corinne Lomax with 17 points, had won the last three tournaments.

Cross went 0-2 against St. Paul this season and 20-1 against everyone else.

It was the seventh straight victory by the Bristol contingent as the team is now a sterling 18-5.

After that great postseason jaunt for the Falcons, it’s truly just the beginning.

St. Paul is one of the featured teams in the Class M bracket this season, capable of making a deep run and quite possibly winning it all.

The Bristol school is ranked eighth and will be home for a couple games if everything works out. 

The Falcons tackles No. 25 Grasso Tech (6-11) to open Class M play as teams with a .350 winning percentage are part of the tournament mix.

Grasso has the fewest victories in all the Class M bracket.

If St. Paul advances from its first round game on Tuesday (6:30 p.m.), the winner of No. 9 Seymour and No. 24 Norwich Tech awaits.

A showdown against top-ranked East Hampton (19-1) is a possibility in quarterfinal play for the Falcons.

The Class M bracket is chocked full of competitive squads which also includes No. 2 Immaculate, No. 3 Valley Regional, No. 4 Bacon Academy and fifth ranked Coginchaug – all carrying 17-3 regular season ledgers.

St. Paul is one of three teams that come into state tournament play with a 15-5 record along with No. 6 Granby Memorial and No. 7 Cromwell.

Ansonia, at 7-13, snuck into postseason play with the final slot in Class M – ranked 28th overall. 

Here’s the Class M bracket breakdown in 2023:

CLASS M

FIRST ROUND

No. 1 East Hampton – Bye; No. 16 Comp Sci (12-8) vs. No. 17 Platt Tech (12-8) at Academy of Computer Science and Engineering HS, 2/28, 6:30pm; No. 25 Grasso Tech (6-11) at No. 8 St. Paul Catholic (15-5), 2/28, 6:30pm; No. 24 Norwich Tech (8-12) at No. 9 Seymour (14-6), 2/28, 6:30pm; No. 4 Bacon Academy – Bye; No. 20 Stonington (9-11) at No. 13 Wilcox Tech (13-7), 2/28, 6:30pm; No. 5 Coginchaug (17-3) vs. No. 28 Ansonia (7-13) at Coginchaug Regional, 2/28, 6:30pm; No. 21 Lauralton Hall (9-11) at No. 12 Oxford (13-7), 2/28, 6:30pm

No. 2 Immaculate – Bye; No. 18 Plainfield (11-8) at No. 15 Windham (12-8), 2/28, 6:30pm; No. 26 Griswold (7-13) at No. 7 Cromwell (15-5), 2/28, 6:30pm; No. 23 Morgan (8-12) at No. 10 New Fairfield (13-7), 2/28, 6:30pm; No. 3 Valley Regional – Bye; No. 14 O’Brien Tech (13-7) vs. No. 19 Haddam-Killingworth (10-10) at Emmett O’ Brien Reg Voc Tech School, 2/28, 6:30pm; No. 27 Goodwin Tech (7-13) at No. 6 Granby Memorial (15-5), 2/28, 6:30pm; No. 22 Canton (9-11) at No. 11 Woodland (13-7), 2/28, 6:30pm

SECOND ROUND

Platt Tech/Comp Sci winner at No. 1 East Hampton (19-1), 3/3, 6:30pm; Grasso Tech/St. Paul Catholic winner vs. Norwich Tech/Seymour winner, 3/3, 6:30pm; Stonington/Wilcox Tech winner at No. 4 Bacon Academy (17-3), 3/3, 6:30pm; Ansonia/Coginchaug winner vs. Lauralton Hall/Oxford winner, 3/3, 6:30pm

Plainfield/Windham winner at No. 2 Immaculate (17-3), 3/3, 6:30pm; Griswold/Cromwell winner vs. Morgan/New Fairfield winner, 3/3, 6:30pm; Haddam-Killingworth/O’Brien Tech winner at No. 3 Valley Regional (17-3), 3/3, 6:30pm; Goodwin Tech/Granby Memorial winner vs. Canton/Woodland winner, 3/3, 6:30pm

Quarterfinals – March 8 (7 p.m. start time)

Semifinals – March 13

Finals – from Mohegan Sun, March 18 or 19 (TBD)

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