"5 things You Need to Know About..." Basketball, Budgets (Yes, Still) and Wondering Where Spring Is

1. Both the East Catholic and Manchester High girls basketball teams will be in action in the second round of the CIAC Class LL tournament tonight. 

East Catholic will square off against No. 2 Mercy in Middletown. 

While the Indians, the tourney's No. 3 seed, will host St. Joseph's in the MHS gym. Both games are at 7 p.m. 

Check back in with Manchester Patch Friday evening for coverage of both games. 

2. Is spring ever going to get here? That's what columnist Patricia Moran (no relation to Manchester Patch Editor David Moran) asks in her latest column. Not content to wait for the season of rejuvenation to get here after the brutalist of brutal winter's, Patricia's booked a trip to a sandy Florida beach, in hopes that by the time she gets back spring will have sprung on the Manchester area. That's a novel solution. 

3. There will be at the South Windsor Arena, 585 John Fitch Blvd., South Windsor, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Friday evening. Admission is $7.00, and skate rentals are $3.00. Discount packages are also available at the arena.

4. If skating's not your thing, you can alway partake of Happy Hour at the , where all drinks are discounted at least $1 and all appetizers are $5 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., or the offering, which features free pizza, "cheap domestic beers," and live entertainment from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. 

5. And Gov. Dannel P. Malloy continues his budget blitzkrieg on Friday, this time stopping at the Hilton Hartford Hotel, 315 Trumbull St., to address union members and field their questions about the particulars of his proposal. The event starts at 11 p.m. in the hotel's third floor ballroom.