By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – It was only going to be a matter of time before Bristol Eastern senior guard Elijah Parent captured the program’s all-time three-point shooting record.
Getting consistent minutes since his freshmen campaign, Parent became just the second player last season to tally 100 career three-pointers for the boys program at Eastern.
Coming into this season needing just 17 more 3s to tie the school record, Parent has been patiently plugging away, through overwhelming defenses, COVID protocol and the like, connecting on several 3-point bombs and entered this week with 116 made three-pointers – one off the record Daron McKoy established in 2015.
Parent hit the record-tying trifecta last Tuesday night against Lewis Mills and then just 2:30 into the Lancers’ showdown against New Britain on Thursday, the senior guard splashed in his 118th career 3 to capture the record.
“It felt pretty good,” said Parent of the milestone accomplishment. “I’ve been waiting for it all season.”
Parent added an additional three 3-pointers, for a total of four, in the 50-47 loss to New Britain, notched four more against Avon on Saturday and now has 125 for his career.
The sharp-shooter leads the Eastern team this season in three-pointers made with 23 and will continue to add to his totals over two games in the upcoming CCC Tournament – starting on Tuesday, March 23 against South Windsor.
He holds just about every three-point record in program history at Eastern including threes made in a game and 3s made over a season.
Parent hit 62-for-156 three-pointers in 2019-20 as a junior, good for nearly a 40-percent shooting clip and established the record for 3-pointers made in a season with 62.
That seasonal ledger was five 3s better than McKoy’s best year of 57 3s back in 2014-15.
George Taylor III hit 57 three-pointers that year for the Lancers as well.
In terms of three’s made in a game, Parent added his name to that record last season.
With the old BE record of six 3s made in a game, Parent went a smooth 6-for-6 at RHAM in Hebron back on February 1 (his mother kept the Eastern scorebook that day and jinked everything by asking about who had the three-point title at BE…) to tie that record along with several other players including Chris D’Amato, Christian Pierce, Eli Rodriguez, Brendan Crowell and McKoy.
And then nine days later, in a big victory over Platt of Meriden from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium in Plainville, Parent scored 33 points and hit 7-of-10 three-pointers to establish the program’s record.
And while Parent has been the focal point of opponents this season as a senior, plus playing point guard while being the primary shooter for the Lancers, he continues to fire away from downtown.
“My percentage hasn’t been great this season,” said Parent, “but I just put all those shots behind [me] and focus on the next one.”
That’s the shooter’s creed in a nutshell and Parent knows that he simply needs to just keep shooting the ball to help his squad win.
And he’ll have, at least, two CCC Tournament games to add to his remarkable totals.
Hitting 3-pointers at Bristol Eastern – It’s a family affair
Elijah Parent isn’t the only shooter from the family that can hit three-pointers. The entire Parent family have canned 3s over the years. Where do the Parent’s rank in terms of career three-pointers at BE? Here’s the updated list:
Name 3-pointers Made Additional comment
Elijah Parent 121 No. 1 all-time at BE
D.J. Parent 24 Pretty far down the boys list…
Bevin [Borajkiewicz] 10 She was the program leader at one point
Taigan Parent 1 And counting…
