For two nights in the last week of February, the hottest place in town, and maybe the state, was Conway Gymnasium at New London High School, where the Whalers boys' basketball team holds court.
The school, which has the largest high school gymnasium in the area, played host to the ECC semifinal and championship games.
The Whalers, having dispatched Killingly with ease 48 hours before, took on ancient rivals Norwich Free Academy in the final on a cold and blustery Friday night.
The two teams played a game that was Aristotelian in its drama and Olympian in its athletic display.
New London and NFA offered up three and a half quarters of nip-and-tuck basketball, with both teams fronted by two already local legends, R.J. Evans for NFA and Alan Chaney in the green and gold.
At the time, the Whalers were ranked fourth in the state and NFA fifth, and for a time the match was a draw.
Then, sparked by Whaler guard Eli Braboy-an immensely entertaining player on both offense and defense-New London pulled away at the end of the fourth quarter to top the Wildcats 74-66.
The mostly hometown crowd, who were jumping out of their seats at every New London bucket, made the final leap onto the court to embrace the team.
The atmosphere was, according to one observer, "what high school sports is all about."
But before the game, finding a place to park and a place to sit was what it was really all about.
Many fans heeded the admonishments of school administrators and sportswriters to get to the place early.
People started arriving at 5 p.m., two hours before the tip. Many people found creative ways to park their cars in the school lot, and others parked at Bates Woods and walked up Jefferson Avenue to the game.
By 6 p.m., the gym, which seats 1,700, with standing room for 200 more, was nearly at capacity.
Fire marshals and police kept close count of the spectators, who were lined up outside the west entrance to the building until the game was deemed a sellout shortly before 6:30.
An estimated 750 did not make it inside.
And while the fans at the game kept the jawing and mocking chants to a minimum, last week's CIAC state tournament first-round game ended with fans invading the court after an incident between a New London player and a Middletown High School player.
The NLHS player reportedly threw a ball at a Middletown player after a foul.
"[That] night was an anomaly," NLHS Principal Daniel Sullivan said. "There was a lot of trash-talking on the court; the officiating could have been better."
Sullivan said some fans came out of the bleachers, but were quickly moved off the court. The game was called with 1:07 to go and New London up by 20 points.
"It was a unique night in New London," Sullivan said. "This is not indicative of the school."
Michael Pitruzello, the Middletown athletic director, said the New London officials did "a good job getting people off the court."
"It was a fast-paced game between two good teams," he said.
Pitruzello said the school would be reviewing tapes of the game.
While sometimes the fans have been overly impassioned, officials in the high school said the Whalers team has made its mark on NLHS in other ways besides their exploits on the hardwood.
"They are an encouragement to the school," said Anthony Nolan, a member of the Board of Education and the high school resource officer. "They are putting on a display of excellence in what they are doing."
Nolan's son Teaurean plays on the team.
Nolan has addressed the team throughout the school year, reminding them that they are role models for the rest of the school.
"I tell them because of that, they should have a level of maturity when they play and when they are not playing," he said.
Roland Dunham, the dean of students, said the basketball team has been "a positive influence" on the school.
"They are good kids and work hard at what they do," he said.
The fact that the white and carmine-clad Wildcats were the opposing team also had plenty to do with the atmosphere.
"It's time to get pumped up," said Danisha Acosta, a 15-year-old student at NLHS in the stands. "We are playing NFA."
Fredica Gunther said the Whalers, who have rolled throughout the season, finally had some competition.
New London High Athletic Director Leo Facchini said the basketball team had been working hard "from the first practice."
"I can't say enough about them," he said. "They have done an outstanding job; it's a source of pride for New London."
Facchini demurred when asked if football-loving New London is perhaps more of a basketball town.
"We are a basketball town, we're a football town, a baseball town," he said. "We have a great sports foundation all around."
And the fans, they show up.