By Michael Letendre

Back in the day, January 9 was typically the date of the first showdown between the Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern boys basketball programs.

And forty-five years ago today, the Rams and Lancers took part in an epic, multiple overtime war.

The city series bout involved close calls and even a fight between the squads but in the end, Central pulled out a huge 69-65 victory in three overtimes in the Rams’ gymnasium from the school on the hill.

The win propelled Central to 8-1 overall and a perfect 5-0 in Colonial Conference tilts.

The Kingstreeters fell to 3-6 and evened its Colonial Conference ledger at 3-3.

Both teams nearly went to the state tournament but at the end of the regular season, the Lancers needed to win their two final games to qualify.

But a one-point loss at Farmington (54-53) on February 17 dropped Eastern out of the playoff picture.

Central ended up going 14-7 overall, putting together a very good campaign under head coach, former UCONN Huskies standout Fred Malan.

And the Rams had some scoring weapons to compliment the offense.

Larry Tomasetti could put the ball in the hoop along with Willie Rosshirt and John Greenleaf.

Todd Hasler was in the beginning stages of his 1,000-point career at Central while Dave Fortier sported a neat musketeer’s beard in the Rams’ team picture that year.

Contributors on that squad also included John Thomas, Jeff Thomas, and Scott Eschner.

Bruce Kuczenski, the former UCONN and professional player, was a freshman that season at Central while Joe DeFillippi – a future coach of the boys basketball program at BC – also earned varsity minutes as his career went along.

Eastern took the hardwood in 1975-76 under first year coach Jim Bates and his work ethic and emphasis on defense quickly helped turn around the Lancers program.

After a 4-16 regular season under then coach Vin Punzo the previous season – which included a disastrous 105-45 loss to Southington on December 27, 1974, the worst loss in program history – Bates helped the BE team to a near .500 ledger that included a solid 8-6 record in Colonial Conference battles.

Rick Gleason was Eastern’s leading scorer that season at 13.2 points-per-game, Bob Fliss added 10.5 points while Marty Peabody averaged 10 points straight up.

Mike Grechko contributed nearly nine points an outing and Scott MacDonald and Gary Pearson notched over 5.0 points-per-game.

Overtime was something the Lancers were very familiar with that season, especially when the game with Central came around.

There was one stretch of seven games in which the Lancers played overtime three times, with the Lancers going 1-2 during those contests.

The first Central/Eastern showdown of 1976 came on that January 9 date and the squads needed several overtimes to finally determine the ultimate victor.

Greenleaf was the catalyst over the third extra frame as his six points made all the difference in the end against Eastern.

He ended the contest with 16 points as did Rosshirt while Tomasetti was the co-leading scorer in the game with 21 points.p

Fliss also canned 21 points, Gleason added 16 while Peabody nabbed 12 to lead the Lancers.

Central led the contest at the end of the first three periods of play, collecting leads of 11-10 and 34-28 at the halftime break.

The Rams scooped up a 46-44 edge through three completed quarters before the fun started.

The Lancers tied it up at 56-56 to end regulation and then trailed by four (61-57) deep into the first overtime.

Two Eastern baskets tied it up at 61-61 and after a late Eastern steal by Fliss, the visiting squad was looking for the win with one final hoop.

But Tomasetti drew an offensive foul and going into the second OT, it was still a 61-61 game.

Both squads added just two points to the scoreboard and after six periods of action and the game was still tied – this time at 63-63.

Central outscored Eastern 6-2 in the third and final OT frame as Greenleaf put the team on his back – notching all the points – as the Rams came away with a huge four-point victory over its crosstown rival. 

And Eastern could not catch a break even after the epic loss against Central.

The Lancers followed up the loss with a city series bout against St. Paul and overtime was needed once again to determine the winner.

On January 13, the Falcons foiled Eastern by a 47-44 final as Gleason tallied 12 points over the losing effort. 

The Rams qualified for the state tournament that year, falling in first round play to Bloomfield, 76-70.

The Lancers ended up one game short for playoff qualification (9-11).