BY JOE PALLADINO
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
UNCASVILLE — Remember Felice Solla? He is the city basketball fan and Crosby High fanatic who suffered a heart attack and lived to tell about it during the Naugatuck Valley League boys semifinal between the Bulldogs and Sacred Heart three weeks ago.
Solla had surgery, quit smoking and walked around with a heart monitor for a few days. But the man they call “Flea” is back watching high school hoops. He had quite a weekend planned and intended to see all — or almost all — of the boys and girls championship games at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Solla planned to watch five games Saturday and three more today.
“I love high school basketball,” he said.
However, Felice and his brother, Tony, were absent for game one on Saturday, the Class S girls title game that featured Thomaston.
“I woke up late,” Felice said when he finally arived.
Well, it was a 10 a.m. game.
The Class S boys basketball championship game Saturday at Mohegan Sun Arena was officiated by a local crew. The referees included, from left, Chris Bunel (alternate), Art Hamm, Charley Harbach and Bob Ferrarotti. (Joe Palladino/RA)
Local authority: The Class S boys basketball final Saturday afternoon between Westbrook and Trinity Catholic featured some local flair in stripes.
The officiating crew was composed of local referees Art Hamm, Charley Harbach and Bob Ferrarotti. Chris Bunel was the alternate.
No. 6-seeded Trinity Catholic upended top-seeded Westbrook, 61-52, to win the Class S title. Trinity rallied past Waterbury Career Academy, 67-60, in Thursday’s semifinals.
On the air: Waterbury radio station WATR, that’s 1320 on your AM dial, will broadcast both city games from the Sun today, the 3 p.m. Class L girls game between Holy Cross and Daniel Hand, followed by the 5:30 p.m. tip between the Sacred Heart boys and Notre Dame of Fairfield in the L boys final.
The man with the call for game one is Allie Vestro, while Bob Sagendorf has the call for game two.
Radio broadcast rights for a single game cost $200, and Sagendorf said the station was scrambling for sponsors when, just a few days ago, a total of five city teams were still alive for a place in the Sun. The station would have found a way to broadcast them all, Sagendorf said, despite the hefty price tag.