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Fairfield Prep teams have played in 20 state championship games since 2000. But not one was in boys basketball. That all changes Saturday at 8:15 p.m. when the Jesuits take on the St. Joseph Cadets for the Class LL championship at Mohegan Sun.
Prep will be playing in its first boys basketball championship game since it defeated Norwalk, 66-60, in 1997 for the Class LL title. Prep's only other title came in 1969. It lost in the finals in 1967 and 1968.
Ninth-seeded Prep (21-5) advanced to the final with a 60-55 win over Ridgefield in the semifinals on Wednesday. The Jesuits also defeated No. 8 Crosby, 86-69, and No. 17 Xavier, 61-59, to reach the final. Xavier knocked out top-seeded Windsor in the second round before falling to Prep.
The Jesuits are led by Terry Tarpey, who had been averaging nearly 22 points per game in the tournament before scoring 11 in the win over Ridgefield. While the Tigers took away Tarpey, Robbie Bier stepped up to score 25 points, and Kevin Potter added 12.
Prep started the season strong, winning its first eight games before losing three straight in January. Since then, the Jesuits have lost only to Hamden (in the final regular season game in the Southern Connecticut Conference) and to Career Magnet, which lost to Hillhouse in the SCC championship game. Career Magnet meets Trinity Catholic in Saturday's Class M boys basketball final.
The Jesuits and Cadets will also battle Saturday for the Division I boys hockey championship. The Cadets were seeded second for the basketball tournament and have defeated Stamford, Brien McMahon and Glastonbury to reach the title game.
Do you plan to attend the Fairfield Prep basketball game? How do you think they will do? Start the discussion below!
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