By Andy Hutchison

WESTPORT — Coming off its FCIAC championship, Staples boys basketball team got back to work Tuesday in the Division I state tournament. 

No. 4 Wreckers defeated No. 13 Kolbe Cathedral of Bridgeport 80-71 in the tourney second round. Because of the low number of D-I playoff qualifiers (16 teams), all participating squads get a first-round bye.

Staples outscored Kolbe 30-22 in a wild opening quarter and led 45-37 at the half before adding to the lead in the third quarter; it was 64-49 going into the fourth.

The Wreckers got 24 points, highlighted by six 3-pointers by Dhilan Lowman, who also grabbed five rebounds. 

Adam Udell registered a double-double with 19 points and 11 assists. Matty Corrigan racked up 17 points, Austin Heyer scored 10, Mason Tobias dropped in seven points to go along with five assists and Jack Jacob notched six rebounds.

Up next is the quarterfinals. Staples will take on No. 5 St. Bernard of Uncasville at 7 p.m. Thursday at Fairfield Warde High School. St. Bernard handed Staples one of its three losses this winter, 63-59, in Uncasville on Feb 1. 

St. Bernard is coming off a 97-41 throttling of No. 12 Fairfield Prep. Game schedules are subject to change; click for the latest CIAC updates.) Andy Hutchison has been covering school sports — including Staples athletics — as well as news and feature stories in Fairfield County, since the 1990s.