Vickie Fulkerson

A few days after the Stonington High School girls' basketball team won the Division IV state tournament under the bright lights at Mohegan Sun Arena, Sophie Hoinsky, whose troublesome right ankle had endured what seemed like a mile's worth of athletic tape to that point, headed off to her team's AAU tryouts. That's how much Hoinsky, the 6-foot-1 junior forward, loves the game and revels in being around it.

The 6-foot-9 Brittney Griner, 35, a 10-time WNBA All-Star, two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and a three-time Olympic gold medalist for the United States, signed with the Connecticut Sun on April 11, inking a one-year contract for $1.19 million.

The Wildcats did just enough well to lead 7-4 with two outs in the seventh, then had just as many little things go awry to end up losing 10-7 in nine innings. All part of the growth process.

Waterford remained unbeaten in ECC Division I with Tuesday's 11-9 victory over East Lyme, with the Lancers (7-1, 4-0) coming back from an 8-4 deficit early in the third quarter.

Norm Higgins, part of eastern Connecticut's vibrant history of distance running, died on Tuesday, April 21.

So far, one of the storylines of the softball season within the Eastern Connecticut Conference has revolved around Bacon Academy.

There was a film session Saturday for the Connecticut Sun, following the results of Friday night's season-opening game at New York – in which the Liberty stretched the lead to as many as 33 – and Aneesah Morrow knew it wasn't going to be great.

Earlier in the game, East Lyme's Andrew Sevigny was pulled for a pinch hitter, following a strikeout in his previous at-bat. The way he reacted impressed head coach Jack Biggs.

The first day Ledyard softball coach Marissa Morris met Faith Dalton, Dalton arrived at a preseason meeting in a classroom at the high school school in a red dress, smiling infectiously and already making an impression on her new coach.

The Stonington High School girls' tennis team is 7-4 overall this season, 2-2 in Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I, not the traditional parade to the state championship match for the Bears but a fight for every victory.