By Michael Letendre
The regular season in scholastic hoop is about to conclude and the squads from Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern are looking for a strong finish.
Next week, the CCC Tournament begins for all the teams in the league and despite all the grumblings about the make-up of the postseason, there will be some big games on the horizon.
Central has two games to play, including a home date against Lewis Mills on Thursday.
The Lancers are also in action twice this week with two showdowns on the road.
It’s a busy time for our scholastic warriors and here’s a special look at how the week opens for our public programs:
Girls Basketball
Bristol Central (1-9) at New Britain (4-6)
Time: Monday, March 15 (5:30 p.m.)
Location: New Britain high school
Since beating Lewis Mills near the tail-end of February, the Central program has been competitive but dropped its fifth straight game last week.
Forward Janessa Bartell has been outstanding in defeat, posting 18.0 points-per-game over Central’s last two contests.
She’s never afraid to shoot the ball and has been the offensive force recently, driving the squad on the scoreboard.
Ella Watson posted 7.0 ppg over that same stretch but the Rams have yet to post a full 32-minute effort this season.
This team simply needs to get Brooke Watson, Gwen and Sophia Torreso rolling offensively and sees what happens.
That’s going to be tough against the Hurricanes who will send out the talented Maya Slisz.
She’s capable of a 25-point performance on any given night and that’s the first player Central must contain.
Layla Mejia is another tough outside shooter who can also fill it up for New Britain.
This is a winnable contest for the locals and it just takes one victory to get the week rolling.
Later This Week…The Rams end the regular season on Thursday against Lewis Mills (5:30 p.m.). Central’s one win this season came versus the Spartans back on February 26 (31-20).
Bristol Eastern (8-2) at Lewis Mills (1-9)
Time: Monday, March 15 (5:30 p.m.)
Location: The Thunderdome at Lewis Mills high school, Burlington
This could be a milestone week for a certain member of the Bristol Eastern program but more on that topic another time.
The squad is still trying to get into that top-eight CCC Tournament bracket with the winner named the champion of the league.
Coming into the contest against Mills, the Lancers have won two in-a-row, five of its last six and certainly has enough momentum to win out.
And that starts with the outstanding play from junior Ciara Collins (23.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.6 blocks, 2.3 steals-per-game) whose production is All-State caliber.
Truly, I’m not sure what the Spartans have to slow her down but the last time the teams met, Mills was extra physical going up against the all-around talent.
That’s going to be tough to duplicate, especially with Collins firing away from home.
And there’s plenty of weapons around Collins with Alyssa Kehler (7.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg), Sage Scarritt (6.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg), Cali Doyon (7.3 ppg, 3.3 apg, 2.8 steals-per-game), Janessa Gonzalez (6.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg) Emma Stavens (4.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.2 apg) and Audrey Tice (1.6 rpg) contributing.
The Spartans need to keep the turnovers to a minimum but if the Lancers start scoring in transition, it’s going to a long game for the home team.
Mills has lost six straight games and its only victory came in a home triumph against Avon back on February 20 by a 43-22 final.
The Thunderdome is a tough place to play but Mills has dropped it last three home games to Central (31-20), Southington (59-16) and New Britain (49-37) last Thursday.
How are the Spartans going to pull this one off against the Lancers?
Later This Week…The Lancers end up finishing things at New Britain high school at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
