The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-02-24
SCHOFIELDERS
 FACE BASSICK
 TEAM TONIGHT.
State and New England Champs Not Too Strong;
 BuIkeley-Wilby Tuesday

With regular playing season com pleted, Connecticut's high school basketball squads were ready and willing for action this week in the ''playdow11S" at New Haven arena, with Crosby of Waterbury and Bas- sick of Bridgeport among the first four teams to take the court. The game, scheduled for 0:15 thic eve ming, was expected to draw a large crowd, and, on the Class A rating of the Connecticut Interscholastic Conference, Bassick as the fayorite to win with a .753 mark against .643 for Crosby team that warmed up for its task with brillian 49-22 win over Norwich Free Academy last Friday night.
 Wilby, which was admitted to the tournament after meeting Friday, is scheduled to match hoops with Hartford Bulkeley, coached by Babe Allen, at 9:l5 tomorrow night, and can be depended upon to have ''good" night, as it is fresh from a 62 to 26 win over St. Thomas sefn- niary last weekend. which wound up its regular season. Bulkeleys rating in Glass A competition, based on games won and lost with "A" opponents, is .857 against 700 for Wilby, sixth and ninth on the list, while Bassick is eighth and Crosby eleventh. Windham of Willimantic, Bristol, winner of 21 straight games, and Central of Bridgeport are seed- ed in that order.
 Central of Bridgeport figures as the real dark horse" of the tour natnent, or did until its high scorer and captain, George Barney, became 20 years of age last week, after the close of the regular season.
 Action Next Week
 Winners of five games played this week between ten teams, will con- pete in the tourney proper, the week of March 3rd. Other 'playdown" games scheduled this week include: Commercial vs. Weaver, tomorrow night, o'clock; Torrington and Hartford Public, Wednesday at p. m., with the five winners to go into action next week against Windham, Bristol and Central.
 Glass B games and tournament will be played at Wesleyan untver- sity, with the CD games at Weaver gym in Hartford.
 Hartford Bulkeley, which opposes Wilby, won the Hartford city cham pionghip, though defeated by Hill house last week Tuesday. Bassick is the defending state and New Eng land champion, but is not rated nearly as strong as it was then, due to graduation.
 Drill Today
 Wilby was scheduled to work cut at 2 p. m. today and will be ready for its test with Bulkeley tomorrow night. Both Crosby and Wilby are confronted with sturdy opposition in Basslck and Bulkeley, but the latter teams should not be more than slight favorites despite the spotty records of the loca, teams this sea- son, both of which wound up with wins that were impressive. despite the weakness of the opposition.
 It is understood that Harold Swafield, president of the Connec- ticut Iilterscholastic Conference and principal of the Fairfield high school, where George Taylor, former Crosby coach, is athletic director and coach, has ruled Captain Bar ney of Central out of the tourna- ment since he bacem 20 years of age last week, after the close of the regular season.
 How They Stand
 The rating of the 13 schools el- igible for the A" tournament as