Norwich — For a team that won a state championship with only seven players last year, it was crucial for New London girls’ basketball coach Tammy Millsaps to bring in fresh talent to preserve the program’s future success.

She did that with freshman guards Jaidelis Rivera and Marlena Childs, products of her AAU program who now play vital roles for the Whalers of 2024.

“Just because we’re young, they’re going to try to bully us, but I feel like Marlena and I do a great job of keeping our composure and making them work harder,” Rivera said.

“We’ve been playing in coach Millsaps’ program since the sixth grade, so she’s taught us how to be tough since a young age,” Childs added.

In New London’s 60-27 victory at Norwich Free Academy last week, Rivera finished with four points, five assists and five steals, while Childs had six points and eight rebounds. Although they didn’t match the triple-double performance of Serenity Lancaster (20 points, 18 rebounds and 10 blocks) they played crucial roles on both sides of the ball.

Rivera and Childs have played for Millsaps’ AAU program, New London Top Flight, helping the transition into high school. Constantly cultivating new talent, Millsaps understands how important it is to have a reliable bench unit, despite winning the previous championship with only two bench players.

“We’re getting what we want from everybody but we’re also getting a few positive things from the kids that are contributing off the bench and that’s key,” Millsaps said. “In the playoffs, you've got to have at least seven kids that can play. We’re in (Class LL) now.”

The Whalers, 16-4, earned the top seed in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I tournament and will face No. 8 Waterford in the quarterfinals beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday.

ECC boys: one division remaining

Three of the four ECC boys’ basketball divisions crowned champions last week with one remaining: Division III. That will be decided Friday night by the winner of the Griswold at Stonington game. Both have one divisional loss, but the Wolverines beat Stonington earlier this season.

The other three champions: St. Bernard (Division I), Waterford (Division II) and Wheeler (Division IV).

The ECC boys’ tournament begins next week as the girls’ tournament plays its championship game next Tuesday at Mohegan Sun Arena.

News and notes

Add another name to the notables in the long Waterford-East Lyme rivalry: East Lyme guard Mikey Timpano. In two games against Waterford this season (two wins for the Vikings) Timpano scored a combined 52 points. … Former NFA guard JJ Hay, who transferred to No. 1 East Catholic after his freshman season, led the Eagles with 24 points last week during a 97-52 win over E.O. Smith. … One of the games of the year in Connecticut is Friday night with No. 8 Windsor going to East Catholic, renewing perhaps the state’s top rivalry over the past decade. … Waterford’s Juan Morel logged back-to-back 23-point games in the Lancers’ division-clincher over Windham and a loss to Stonington earlier this week.

z.cunningham@theday.com

Day assistant sports editor Mike DiMauro contributed to this report