By Michael Letendre

PLAINVILLE – This week is a big deal for the Bristol Eastern girls basketball team as the fate of Region B is in the hands of four teams.

The paths of Southington (7-1), Farmington (6-2), and Plainville (6-2) – along with Eastern (6-2) – will be a bit more set in stone after this week.

The Knights could distance themselves from the pack with a win at Eastern on Monday but that squad doesn’t have an easy path either.

Southington has a home game against Plainville on March 11 but a week after that, the Knights must travel to Farmington to end the regular season.

If Eastern can defeat Southington and then hold pat over its final slate of regular season games, the top of the Region B standings might be a bit crowded.

“You could potentially have three teams tied for first in Region B,” said Eastern assistant coach Mark Camden after the Lancers lost at Plainville.

Here’s what Bristol Central and Eastern will have to contend with on Monday:

Girls Basketball

Bristol Central (1-7) at Plainville (6-2)

Time – Monday, 5:30 p.m.

Location – Ivan Wood Gymnasium, Plainville high school

The Rams did a relatively good job against the Blue Devils back on Saturday, February 27, making it a single-digit affair early in the fourth quarter before falling, 55-33.

Plainville has capable scorers outside of the obvious one, senior guard Jaida Vasquez – who can light it up from deep or attack the baseline with zest for lay-ups.

She blasted Eastern for 30 points last week, tying her career-high, while Vasquez’s quick hands cause plenty of havoc defensively.

Last time against the Rams, Kori Jones (14 points), Lilly Worzorko (13), and Tessa Susco (nine) all had success offensively.

Central just needs a little offensive consistency but that could prove difficult against a very good Plainville defense.

The Rams had a great showing against Farmington and had their moments against Southington last week.

Sophia Torreso averaged 12.0 points-per-game against Southington and Farmington last week and her overall offensive game has been improving.

Brooke Watson (10 points in the loss to Southington) has been a spark plug off the bench and Janessa Bartell is a good inside shooter with rebounding tendencies to boot.

Ella Watson pumped in 10.0 ppg over her last two games and if this program can all get on the same page, Plainville will have to sweat more than a little bit.

The Blue Devils are a handful and this won’t be an easy game for Central on the road.

And then on Thursday at 5:30 p.m., Central will host a game against Bristol Eastern to finish out the week with a city series confrontation.

Southington (7-1) at Bristol Eastern (6-2)

Time – Monday, 5:30 p.m.

Location – Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium, Bristol Eastern high school

This is the big one and if Eastern wants to stay in the CCC Region B race, the contest on Monday against Southington is a must-win.

In the first tilt against the Knights, back on February 20, it was a three-point game early in the third quarter before turnovers, missed shots and several second chance shooting opportunities by Southington doomed the Lancers.

The only loss for Southington this year was a last-second defeat at the hands of Plainville. Since that time, the team has won five straight.

The Knights love the long ball, will press and trap and turn defense into offense (those are the same things Eastern likes to do).

Southington’s defense has allowed opponents just 33.3 points-per-game this year – including two 16-point performances by both Avon and Lewis Mills.

The Lancers defense played well against Southington in certain areas in that first showdown.

The Knights were limited to 40-percent shooting from the field, took only nine free throws and committed 18 turnovers.

But Southington scooped up 23 offensive rebounds which led to several second chance buckets, hurting Eastern.

The Lancers need to be wary of the scoring exploits of Southington’s Gabby Dangelo, Livvy Pizzitola, and Allison Carr.

Eastern is hungry after dropping a tough 44-39 decision to Plainville last Thursday evening.

Stopping a motivated Ciara Collins (23.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.9 blocks, and 2.5 steals-per-game) is the challenge for Southington and there’s no easy way to accomplish that.

Collins is a 38-percent shooter from downtown and is quickly approaching 1,000 points for her career (more on that topic another time).

But the task at hand is Southington and expect the junior standout to produce another monster game.

Additional support will come from Alyssa Kehler (7.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg), Cali Doyon (7.5 ppg, 3.0 spg), Sage Scarritt (7.1 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.1 apg), and Janessa Gonzalez (5.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg).

Taigan Parent has been doing a credible job in a starting role (3.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg) and freshmen Emma Stavens (2.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.0 apg) and Audrey Tice have been tremendous assets off the Eastern pine.

And then head coach Tony Floyd is back from COVID protocol which is also good news for the home team.

Southington is capable but Eastern is more than motivated in this one as Region B and CCC Tournament implications hang in the balance.