By Michael Letendre
The girls basketball squad from Bristol Eastern was an 18-win program in 2019-20 and while the season this year will be reduced in total games due to the pandemic, the team is itching to get back on the court for regular season play.
In terms of veteran presence, the Lancers return senior forward/center Sage Scarritt, senior guard Cali Doyon, and junior guard Ciara Collins.
Scarritt is a rebounding machine that has been improving her offensive game over the past three seasons, Doyon can pick your pocket clean with her quick hands, and Collins is that jack-of-all-trades athlete every basketball team craves.
And while the program might be a little lean on actual varsity experience, there’s plenty of basketball talent on the squad, ready to be unleashed.
With the season on the verge of reality, let’s take a quick look at the squad from Bristol Eastern:
BRISTOL EASTERN GIRLS BASKETBALL
Head coach: Tony Floyd (41st season)
Last year: 18-6 overall (No. 9 Eastern lost in the second round of Class L state tournament to No. 8 Windsor, 48-36)
Overall Record: In 40 seasons at Bristol Eastern, Tony Floyd is 576-319 overall.
Key losses: Jordan Ouellette (forward) and Avery Arbuckle (forward/center).
Key players: Sage Scarritt (sr, forward/center), Ciara Collins (jr, guard), Cali Doyon (sr, guard), Janessa Gonzalez (jr, guard), Taigan Parent (so, guard).
Strengths: Experienced starters in Scarritt, Collins, and Doyon; talented younger players
Weaknesses: Inexperienced bench, youth
Why Eastern will be successful: As a sophomore, Collins raised her level of play. She will so again this year. Ditto Scarritt and her newfangled love of 3-point shooting (thank you, Carter).
Fun Fact: Head coach Tony Floyd will be coaching in his 900th scholastic game on February 23 against Lewis Mills from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium in Bristol.
Not So Fun Fact: When Eastern was considering Tony Floyd for the girls basketball head coaching job, America and Iran were friends. Once the 1979 scholastic season started in Floyd’s first year, those two countries were quickly enemies. Is that a coincidence?!?
Overview: When a scholastic basketball team loses a 1,000-point scorer, a natural question is to ask who will help produce those missing points.
The Lancers return three of its five starters from last year – all who can help shoulder that scoring load.
Jordan Ouellette’s offense will be missed this season but Collins (16.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists-per-game) is a fantastic all-around talent that can raise her offensive game even more in 2021.
Once she sets her feet, Collins has an excellent shot and she can either finish in the lane or drop in three-pointers from deep.
Collins canned 34 threes last season to lead the Eastern squad but she’s much more than an outstanding scoring threat.
She was second on the team in blocked shots (1.1 blocks-per-game) and contributed 1.8 steals over a very busy slate of 24 games in 2019-20.
Collins is a smart, highly competitive athlete that has few equals on the hardwood.
Then there’s Scarritt and we’ve all seen her improvements over the years on the court.
From starting off as a solid rebounding entity as a freshman to becoming a solid all-around contributor after the completion of her third varsity campaign last year, the forward/center is looking for a big campaign to end her scholastic career.
She averaged 6.0 points-per-game in 2019-20 but led the team in rebounds (8.8) and managed to dish off an impressive 2.2 assists in Eastern’s productive post-passing exploits.
The talented frontcourt player also rejected a shot every game while adding 1.7 steals to the mix.
Scarritt has improved her outside marksmanship tremendously and is a lifetime 33-percent three-point shooter at Eastern.
She’s also an invaluable leader who is not only a credit to the program but to her class at Eastern as well.
And then there’s Doyon who can heat up quickly on the court when she’s turning defense into offense – starting the break which is always a big part of Floyd’s transition offense.
She easily led the squad in steals with just under four-per-game while her average of 4.2 assists was the highest mark on the team.
Doyon canned an impressive 44-percent of her field goals as a junior, led the team in free throw percentage while tallying nine three-pointers along the way.
Throw in numbers of 6.6 points and nearly three rebounds-per-game and Doyon proved to be another well-rounded player that should improve over her final season at Eastern.
After those three starters, the roster will turn to some slightly less experienced players.
But a couple of those athletes, junior Janessa Gonzalez and sophomore Taigan Parent, saw good varsity minutes last season in back-up capacities.
Gonzalez did well when called upon, playing in 17 games and saw increased time during the second half of the campaign last year.
She’s a decent rebounder while her offensive game is still improving.
And Parent did a commendable job as a first-year player as Floyd is never afraid to give deserving freshman minutes on the court.
She played in 18 games and expect her contribution to increase as the season moves along.
Eastern also has several intriguing freshmen that could earn some minutes along the way as the need arises.
But this team is in more than capable hands the with Scarritt, Collins, and Doyon trio leading the charge.
Games to Watch (online)…Eastern will be playing all the usual favorites but its schedule is missing all the Central Connecticut Conference heavy hitters it would normally play.
That’s the pandemic for you.
Eastern opens with Farmington on Wednesday while traveling to Central this Friday for its annual city series bout.
The Lancers first home game comes on February 23 against Lewis Mills while seeing Central again – this time from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium (Lancer Dome) – on March 11.
