Hungry for a Win Middletown, CT – The Westport Country Day Panthers are on the move and in good position to win both the boys and girls divisions of the 2014 CIAC Tournament. The Panthers open tournament play Wednesday afternoon against New Milford, who they defeated 56-25 last season. Friday’s first round is scheduled to start at 1:30 PM. The top four seeds automatically qualify for the second round, which kicks off at 2:30 PM. Both of the Panthers’ tournament games will be played on Tuesday, May 6 at 7 PM. The Panthers (23-1 overall) will need some help to win the Class L title. If the team from Pound Ridge loses to their cross-town rival Kent School (21-2), a Kent win over New Milford will advance them to the championship game and a Panthers loss will keep them at home. But regardless of what Kent does, a Panthers win guarantees that they advance to the title game. If Westport prevails, a New Milford win would put them in a play-in game with Kent. The team from New Milford (17-7) is the top seed in the girls bracket. They are led by their senior post Rachel DeStefano, who averages 10.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game. The team is also anchored by two guards. Junior Ashley Kramer (12.1 points) and sophomore Alyssa Buehren (10.3 points). On the other side of the bracket is the Kent School Tigers (21-1). The Tigers have several players who can step up and help out any one of three scoring options. Senior post Danielle Cuthbertson is averaging a double-double, with 12.4 points and 9.2 rebounds. Senior forward Brittany Linn (17.5 points) and junior Taylor Pecora (11.5 points) also average double figures in points. Other interesting matchups in the boys bracket include No. 3 (New Milford) vs No. 7 (NFA-SUNY Maritime) at noon, No. 2 (Kent) vs No. 6 (Newfield) at 4 PM, and No. 4 (Kent) vs No. 5 (Greenwich) at 7:30 PM. The winners will move on to the title game and the losers will compete in the first round of consolation bracket. The girls tournament gets underway Wednesday afternoon at 12 PM with two matches that feature higher seeds facing off against each other in an early game, before two teams with a combined 5-0 record clash in an earlier semifinal. Friday’s first round will consist of the two early games, with the pairings decided by each team’s seeding. The two winning teams will play on Tuesday to determine the first round winner. Like the boys bracket, only the top four teams advance to the second round of consolation bracket. The Newfield boys (20-3) are the top seed in the bracket. They are led by senior post Kevin Malinowski (14.1 points and 9.5 rebounds) and junior point guard Josh Tafuri (12.8 points). On the other side of the bracket are the No. 5 seeded Greenwich Highlanders. Senior guard Max Ritchie (14.4 points) and junior guard Luke McAuliffe (10.5 points) lead the team in scoring. The Greenwich boys (21-2) will play one of their early games against No. 9 Newfield at 11 AM, before taking on No. 2 New Milford in their semifinal matchup. The winners of those two games will play Tuesday afternoon in the first round of consolation bracket, while the losers will play Friday afternoon in consolation bracket. The Newfield girls (22-0) will get their season started against the No. 10 Greenwich-North Stonington JV squad, a team that has not played this season. In other Division I girls action, the Kent School Tigers lost in the quarterfinal round to No. 6 Newfield and dropped the tournament title to the No. 5 Greenwich (see earlier story). In girls tournament action, New Milford will face off against Newfield in the semifinals at 3 PM. The winner of that match will advance to the title game on Tuesday at 7 PM. The loser will play against Greenwich for third place at 5:15 PM. The Newfield boys began their season Saturday with a win over Bridgewater-Raynham, 67-55, on Friday. In the boys tournament, the boys will be the higher seed, making them the heavy favorite to win the championship. But with some talented teams in the field, anything can happen. The top seed New Milford will face off against No. 2 Kent School at noon on Saturday. If Kent wins that matchup, it will play in the championship game Monday night, while a Newfield win would send the teams to a rematch on Tuesday. The winners of those two matches would be the higher seed for the consolation semifinals on Tuesday. The No. 2 seed Kent School lost a heartbreaker to No. 6 Greenwich, 61-60, in the semifinals of the tournament to decide the title and the No. 5 seed Greenwich will take on No. 4 New Milford for the third place game on Monday afternoon at 3 PM. Two teams playing the role of heavy favorites to win the divisional title are the No. 2 New Milford boys and the No. 3/4 Newfield boys. Both of those teams have a balanced team that can score in a number of ways. On offense, Newfield’s Michael Zambri and Ryan Stoner will be threats to score a lot of points. In other words, expect this game to be closer than people might expect. The key to winning will be limiting turnovers and having discipline to play defense. In another D-I boys game, Greenwich defeated No. 2 New Milford, 59-57, on Friday in the semifinals of the Division I tournament at Yale. In the girls semifinals, No. 5 Newfield will play No. 4 New Milford. In girls tournament play, the winner of that matchup will take on No. 3 Kent School for third place on Monday at 3 PM. The losers of that matchup will play for the fourth place game on Saturday at 12 PM. On the girls side, Greenwich defeated No. 4 New Milford on Friday in the semifinals of the Division I tournament at Yale, 57-36. The loss eliminated the No. 3 seed Wildcats from tournament contention. No. 4 New Milford will play No. 5 Newfield in the third place game on Sunday at 11 AM. The loser of that game will take on No. 2 Kent School for a rematch on Monday at 3 PM. On Saturday afternoon at 1 PM, No. 2 Greenwich will host No. 1 NFA-SUNY Maritime in a rematch from last season’s semifinals, when the Buccaneers came back from 16 points down to beat Greenwich for the title. The New Milford-Newfield girls will battle for the Class L title at 1:30 PM on Saturday. Last season, No. 1 Greenwich won the boys and girls CIAC Division II titles over the course of the season. But this year, No. 2 Newfield won the boys title over New Milford, which was also unbeaten in the D-II bracket. The Newfield boys are 19-2 overall, with a 6-1 record in league play. The Panthers lost last season to Central CT Tech (now Central HS) in the semi-finals of the CIAC Tournament. After that loss, coach Bill Sheppard challenged his team to improve and play together. And this year’s team has exceeded those expectations. The Panthers have a balanced offense with 10 players scoring at least four points a game. Senior captain Ben Cuthbertson, who missed much of last season due to a fractured collarbone, is having a breakout year averaging 18 points and 13 rebounds a game. Guard Jordan Nieves leads the team in assists with 3.8 a game. Nieves, a junior, is the Panthers’ second leading scorer with 9.3 points a game. It’s not only his offensive numbers that are impressive; he leads the Panthers in assists and is second in steals and rebounds. Relying on size and physicality to matchup against anyone, and especially against a team like Greenwich, the Panthers will be a force to be reckoned with. The other team that poses a threat to the Panthers for the Class L title is No. 2 New Milford. The boys team is 9-3 in league play, which includes an 0-2 mark against Newfield. They are led by senior point