By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – Highlighting the extraordinary accomplishments of our scholastic athletes in Bristol is something we’ll do from time to time in TBE and to open the season in girls and boys basketball, how much more can Bristol Central’s Donovan Clingan and Bristol Eastern’s Ciara Collins raise the bar this year?
If week one is this amazing sample space, how will the duo top those efforts as the campaign truly gains traction?
Don’t forget, Clingan and Collins are only juniors and each has an ever-improving hardwood game – leading to statewide attention.
It’s also scary to think how much better these two hoopsters will be in the coming year once all this pandemic tomfoolery is done and those athletes get a full season to strut their stuff.
Let’s start with Collins as we compare her numbers from the last two seasons at Eastern:
Ciara Collins, sophomore (2019-20): 16.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists-per-game.
Ciara Collins, junior (2021): 27.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists-per-game.
What important element isn’t highlighted in that fast start for Collins this year? She’s scoring all those points on a tremendous 52.7-percent shooting clip from the field.
The 29 points she dropped on Central last week is a career high as was her 14 rebound effort.
In fact, Collins had a double-double before halftime against the Rams.
This jack-of-all-trades guard/forward is one of the top competitors you’ll find in the CCC this year while she’s also a tremendous student and a great person to interview over the years.
And over the next couple weeks, we’ll start looking at the possibility of her tallying her 1,000th point.
Yes, we’re talking about four-figure scoring in a shortened season. That’s pretty darn impressive.
Speaking of impressive, there’s that Clingan guy from Central who is doing okay over his first two games.
And ‘okay’ is the understatement of the year as the big man might not have an equal in all of scholastic hoops in Connecticut.
This guy is the total package and once he becomes a consistent shooter from the outside (he threw up a couple three-point attempts in the 66-51 win at Eastern last Friday), additional scholarships will come Clingan’s way.
A collegiate center in 2022-23 won’t be a traditional ‘plop down in the paint and call for the ball’ player and Clingan is well on his way to being that all-around threat at the ‘5’ position every institution craves.
The media likes to name-drop when it comes to Clingan, bringing up that other dominant Central center from several years ago (you know, the large guy with the ‘Subway Restaurant’ like nickname) for comparison purposes.
With all due respect, there’s not much similar between those two big men.
What is the same between Clingan and former Central standout Jeff Salovski?
Both are 6-foot-10 or taller and each received NCAA Division I offers.
And that’s not a knock on ‘Big Deli’ but the two big men are simply different types of centers with vastly unique strengths.
Want to play contrast and compare then?
Here’s a look at both players from their junior seasons at Bristol Central:
‘Big Deli’ Salovski (2002-03): 18.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, 4.5 blocks-per-game in 26 contests (BC was 24-2 that season under coach Pete Wininger).
Donovan Clingan (2021): 36.0 points, 14.5 rebounds, 3.5 blocks-per-game (BC current 2-0 under coach Timmy Barrette).
Career points (to date): Salovski 1,269; Clingan: 1,084.
In a more in depth look, Clingan is averaging 24.1 points-per-game for his career and needs 751 more to tie the Bristol scholastic scoring record held by St. Paul’s Carey Edwards (1,835).
That would be something if Clingan could carry his current numbers over 12-14 games this year.
He’s already tied his career-high of 37 points against Eastern and there’s not much stopping him from getting 40-plus in a game.
And what’s going to happen next season when, hopefully, Central can compete for a state championship over a full slate of games?
Clingan has a legitimate chance of heading off to college with a state title in hand.
But back to the present as both Collins and Clingan have started the season a on tear and will continue to do so over the coming weeks.
