all good things come to an end

Ironically, the championship runs of both the New Britain girls basketball team and the Southington gymnastics teams ended within hours of each other. I was witness to both events (please don't blame it on me, girls).
First, the Knights faced stiff competition at the New England Championship and fell short of a fourth-straight title, coming in third overall. Had the Knights performed their absolute best, they would barely have outscored the winners, Chelmsford, MA. Had they scored their average, which they were a little below, they would have finished exactly where they did. The bottom line was that both Chelmsford and second-place LaSalle Academy (RI) had better days. They might have been better teams, but all three were very close in talent. It came down, for the first time, to Southington needing to do its absolute best. The other teams did a better job of that.
Then the New Britain girls fell at CCSU to Career Magnet, in a game that featured unbelievable talent on both sides. There could prove to have been as many as seven Division I players in that game when all is said and done.
The Hurricanes looked like the more polished team for over three quarters of the game, but in the end their one fatal flaw shone through: a lack of depth. One foul out (starting guard Sarah Sideranko), a minor cramp for center Tyler Kimball and suddenly the 'Canes were on the losing side. Career dominated the offensive rebounding in the final minutes and earned the win. Take nothing away from New Britain, which played great. As my colleague Matt Straub pointed out, there were only 14 turnovers in the game combined. This was a very well played game all-around, and very fun to watch.
So, the Knights streak of state Class L titles is still alive at four. The Hurricanes, with most of their team back next year, should be among the final teams left again, if not the favorites to win it all. They just need to add a little depth.
Time to start a couple of new streaks.

a great debate

I've been thinking about something for quite some time now. Something I've seen coming on the horizon since before the winter high school sports season began. In my mind it has sparked a raging debate, to which I cannot seem to find a conclusive answer.
On one side we have the New Britain Golden Hurricanes girls basketball team: two-time defending Class LL champions. Several of the players are the same, but several pieces are completely different from two years ago. A three-peat is possible, particularly after seeing the 'Canes survive the CCC tournament against Southington, Windsor and Bulkeley.
On the other side we have the Southington Blue Knights gymnastics team: three-time defending Class L and New England champs. The Knights are the clear favorite to win 'L' again with the top qualifying average in the state, and a fourth New England title could follow it two weeks later. This group is entirely different from the team that won the first title, with only two significant holdouts from even last year's team.
The question at hand is which is more impressive, particularly if both win their respective titles again this year? The 'Canes have won in one of the major sports, something that a lot of people across the state and country play, and something in which the chance of there being more competition is vastly greater. But the Knights haven't just won the state, they've won six states, and they've done it in dominant fashion for three years, with many different athletes.
For New Britain, junior guards Symone Roberts and Sarah Sideranko have never lost a state tournament game. Even more ridiculous, for Southington, senior Kelsie Straub has never lost a high school competition, be it a regular season dual meet, a state tournament, or a New England tournament. How would any of these kids react the first time they had to deal with a loss? I wouldn't want to go through that.
At the same time I struggle with the thought of how unique it is to see a dynasty in different sports. What Southington coach Byron Knox has done is impressive, but through his position at the CATS training center in Cheshire, he has worked with many of these athletes since they were little girls. The hard part was convincing them to join the high school team, often seen as second-rate compared to club competition.
It doesn't take much to convince players at your school to play basketball, and when you have a player like Roberts you have a dynamic weapon to start from. But winning titles, and in one of the more competitive divisions in all of CT high school sports, is not easy. Plus two different New Britain coaches, Beryl Piper and Karen Byrne, have attempted to lead the team to titles. Byrne will largely be judged, fairly or unfairly, this season on what happens in the next two weeks.
I guess this debate won't be settled, at least until one of them loses. I'm not sure that will be this year.