A quick look at the CIAC girls basketball state tournament: Ellington, East Hampton top seeds

The CIAC released the girls basketball tournament pairings Wednesday afternoon for five divisions. The tournament will start Monday with first-round games and end March 16-17 with the championship games at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Here are some things to know about the tournament bracket:

Last year’s Class M champion East Hampton, the top seed in Class M, has not lost a game since last January. The Bellringers (21-0) played in the semifinals of the Shoreline Conference tournament Wednesday night and are the favorite once again to win Class M. No one has come close to beating East Hampton; their closest game was a win over Kolbe Cathedral, 60-51, on Jan. 13. Kolbe is the ninth seed and could potentially face the Bellringers in the quarterfinals.

Ellington (19-3) is the top seed in Class MM. The Knights, who will play Suffield for the NCCC tournament championship Thursday night, lost to Berlin in the second round last year after getting a first-round bye with the No. 2 seed. Ellington coach Teighlor Clare-Kearney beefed up the Knights’ schedule this season in hopes of going farther this post-season. No. 9 Berlin could potentially face Ellington again in the quarterfinals if both teams advance that far. Last year’s Class S champion Northwest Catholic, playing in Thursday’s CCC tournament championship, is the No. 2 seed in Class MM.

Look out for Windsor in Class L. The Warriors are on a nine-game win streak and are playing for the CCC tournament championship Thursday night as the 12th seed against Northwest Catholic. Last year, the Warriors knocked out Simsbury in the second round, only to lose in the quarterfinals to Torrington, but 10th-seeded Windsor and second-seeded Simsbury could potentially meet in the quarterfinals again this year. Last year’s Class L champion E.O. Smith has moved up to Class LL and is the 13th seed.

Mercy, last year’s Class MM runner-up to New London, has moved up to Class LL, where the Tigers are the 11th seed. The CCC has a cluster of teams who could potentially play each other in Class LL – if No. 4 Conard wins its first game, it will play the winner of the E.O. Smith-Enfield game. No. 5 Glastonbury, if it gets through its first two rounds, could be waiting in the quarterfinals. Newington is the seventh seed, opening with No. 26 South Windsor Monday.

Seventh-seeded Suffield, which beat third-seeded Somers 44-43 on a last-second shot by Olivia Matthews Tuesday night in an NCCC tournament semifinal game, is the sixth seed in Class MM and opens the state tournament Monday against Hand. Suffield lost in the first round last year as the 21st seed in Class MM.