The field is set for the second annual Vanguard Holiday Classic to be held on Saturday, Dec. 27 at Wilbur Cross High School:

Noon: Career girls vs. Hamden

2 p.m.: Hillhouse boys vs. Sheehan


5 p.m.: Hyde boys vs. Bridgeport Central

7 p.m.: Wilbur Cross boys vs. Xavier

Tickets for each session are $7 for adults, $5 for students. The gym will be cleared after the Hillhouse-Sheehan game.

for the local teams:

Class LL: Cheshire vs. Glastonbury at Willow Brook Park, New Britain, 2 p.m.
Class SS: Seymour vs. New London at West Haven High, 2 p.m.
Class S: Ansonia vs. Cromwell at Trumbull High, 2 p.m.

And the others:

Class MM: Darien vs. New Canaan at Trumbull High, 2 p.m.
Class L: Masuk vs. Newington at West Haven High, 7 p.m.
Class M: Ledyard vs. Brookfield at Municipal Stadium, Waterbury, 2 p.m.

We enter the final week of the high school football season. Will the SCC win a state championship?
They are guaranteed at least one spot, in Class LL, where the Hamden-Cheshire winner will be facing likely Glastonbury on Saturday. Hillhouse faces a dangerous Darien team in the Class MM semifinals tomorrow at West Haven High.

A pair of area NVL teams, Ansonia and Seymour, try to defend their titles (a three-peat in Ansonia's case) in Class SS and S, respectively. How many area teams will end up winning state championships? Feel free to provide your thoughts and predictions for the semifinal games.

Today was the opening day of boys' basketball practice. Whcih team will be the surprise like Lyman Hall was last year? How will Wilbur Cross do under a new coach, Anthony Hill, and how will the old Cross coach, Jim Reynolds, do at Guilford? And will Hillhouse be able to rebound to reclaim its position as the top team in the Southern Connecticut Conference.

Fans can come see Hillhouse, Cross, Lyman Hall, along with Maloney, Crosby, Notre Dame-Fairfield, New London and Danbury among others on Sunday in the Hoops For Food Scrimmage at Hillhouse High from noon-5 p.m. Admission is free as long spectators bring two non-perishable food items with them.

If you have any early thoughts on the best 5-10 hoop teams in the state, or who will be better than last, I'd like to hear what you have to say.