By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The Bristol Central boys basketball team was practically itching to get back on the court for the Central Connecticut Conference Tournament.
And on Monday night, the fourth seeded Rams showed exactly why the program is one of the featured squads in all the CCC.
Central took on No. 5 Windsor in a huge first round tournament showdown, led wire-to-wire, refused to surrender the lead when the pressure was at its highest and closed out the game from the free throw line as the Rams dropped the Warriors by a 73-59 final from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium in Bristol.
Undefeated Central (13-0) moves on in the championship round to square against No. 1 Northwest Catholic (13-0) on Wednesday from West Hartford in a semifinal thriller. The Lions were a 75-46 winner over Edwin O. Smith to advance in tournament play.
The Rams came out extremely sharp, leading 26-3 with 5:48 to go in the first half before seeing that cushion drop all the way to one (36-35) midway through the third tilt.
However, Central went back to work, etched up a 10-point advantage in the closing minutes of the showdown to close out Windsor.
“We withstood that punch,” said Central coach Tim Barrette. “We knew it was coming. Coach Smith had his guys ready. They play hard for thirty-two minutes.”
Central’s Donovan Clingan was tremendous on the big stage, ramping up a career-high 39 points to go along with 26 rebounds and 10 blocked shots for a man-sized triple double.
And the center made critical free throws throughout the contest, splashing in 7-of-8 over the final 4:21 to stave off the Warriors.
“He made his foul shots,” said Barrette of Clingan. “That’s what I’m actually happiest about tonight. He puts his time in. He has been working hard on the weekends, early sessions with me, shooting 500, 600 free throws. It pays off in a fourth quarter of a CCC tournament game.”
Sean Wininger (four points) was also a standout defensively as his 10 rebounds helped keep Windsor off the offense glass.
“He had 10 defensive boards at halftime,” said Barrette of Wininger. “We did a good job defensively, threw a little junk at [Windsor] tonight. Donovan and Sean on the blocks did a great job rebounding the basketball and limited them in the first half to pretty much one shot. The second half, we didn’t do such a great job but [Windsor was] really going after it when they were chasing.”
And this was a tremendous game for Central’s Carson Rivoira who found his big man time and time again for lay-ups and rim-rocking dunks, dishing out seven assists in Central’s hi-low offensive scheme.
Rivoira came away with four second-half points but more importantly, he didn’t let Windsor’s Troy McKoy (four points) get into any kind of offensive rhythm with his usual defensive hustle and all-out effort.
“He’s my dirt guy,” said Barrette. “You need one of him. He’s my glue guy. I thought he actually did a phenomenal job on [Troy] McKoy in the first half. I don’t know what McKoy’s numbers were but he was one-on-one with McKoy for 16 minutes in the first half. I believe he held him to [two] points at halftime. You can speak volumes about Carson.”
Damion Glasper was tough as well, dropping in 13 points around fast and quick Windsor hands, D’Ante Ross added seven points, Victor Rosa scored all six of his points in a critical stretch of the fourth period while Eli Rodriguez provided an assist or two over a complete an excellent team effort.
Quallis Williams scored 27 points while Prince Samuels added 16 for Windsor who started the contest with just one field goal over the first 10:47 of the game – playing catch-up to the final buzzer.
The visitors did make a run, slashing a 23-point deficit to one with 4:35 remaining in the third period as Central held on to a slim 36-35 push.
However, the Rams bent but never broke, leading by two points after three completed frames and slowly reestablished a double-figure lead midway through the fourth.
“There’s no comfort when you’re playing Coach Smith and Windsor,” said Barrette. “I knew they were going to come back at some point. I was actually proud of my guys when Donovan was out in foul trouble [late in the second period]. We only gave away four points. [Clingan] went out [with Central leading by] 19 and we were at the half plus-15. I thought that was a big stretch for us to withstand that run without him in the game.”
After a jumper from McKoy midway through the first period, Central’s defense went into overdrive as the program went on a huge 20-1 surge over an eight-minute stretch – capped by an offensive rebound and put-back by Clingan – as the home team led 26-3.
Williams got hot to end the second stanza, scoring eight straight points for his team, Jarrell Petteway added a 3 and when Samuels hit a lay-up with 39 seconds before the half, Windsor was hanging around but trailed by 14.
Wininger banked home one final shot to end the second quarter with the Rams leading 32-17 as intermission commenced.
That punch came quickly from the Warriors to open third period play as the visiting aggression went on an 18-4 run in a matter of 3:25, cashing in on turnovers and miscues by the Rams with its pressure man-on-man defense and when Williams and Samuels connected on back-to-back three-point plays, Central’s lead was reduced to 36-35 with 4:35 left.
But late in the third, Rodriguez found Rivoira for a lay-up and when Ross drained a 3 with 55 seconds to play in the quarter, Central rebuilt its lead to 55-50.
“Just stay focused and not lose our mental, and don’t fall apart as a team,” said Clingan said about Windsor’s run and Central’s response in the third. “Just stick together and we’ll get through it. Coming into this game, we knew they were going to hit a couple of shots. So we knew they’d go on a run eventually. All we had to do was keep our heads and give it back to them and go on a run ourselves.”
It was a two-point game after three but Central went right back to work as Rivoira scored another high-percentage bucket and Ross followed with a long jumper to post the Rams to a 49-43 edge with 7:04 to play.
Windsor was still hanging around before Clingan started to dominate, scoring nine points of an 11-5 Central burst and with 3:29 remaining, it was a ten-point game again at 62-52.
“It was a close third quarter, so I knew I had to come in this fourth quarter and start to take over the game, just score as much as I can and get the victory,” said Clingan.
As the Warriors tried to make it a game again, Rosa struck back with a jumper and then cashed in on a tough lay-up and with 1:47 showing on the clock, Windsor was trailing 66-56 as time was nearly up.
“Victor really turned the game around with his speed,” said Barrette. “He’s one of the fastest guys in this area. With the ball tonight, he really turned the game around in the second half, breaking the pressure.”
Clingan ended the suspense with four straight free throws and a monster dunk to give Central a 16-point edge with 35 seconds to play.
“He’s a leader on and off” the court said Barrette of Clingan. “And the guys, they follow. We really feed him the ball in the last five minutes [of the game]. You’ve got a 7-footer, you’ve got a prize trophy, you give him the ball. That was our instruction during the last timeout: Do what got you here, break the pressure, give him the basketball and let him finish.”
In the end, Central won by 14, advancing in tournament play to square off against Northwest Catholic in another top-tier battle in Connecticut this year.
The winner of the Central/Northwest contest advances to the title game on Friday.
CCC Region B boys basketball
BRISTOL CENTRAL 73, WINDSOR 59
From the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium
Windsor (11-2) 3 14 26 16 – 59
Bristol Central (13-0) 17 15 13 28 – 73
WINDSOR (59): Jarell Pettaway 1 0 3, Troy McKoy 2 0 4, Rashawn Tibby 2 1 5, Tyler Betsey 1 1 4, Quallis Williams 10 6 27, Prince Samuels 7 1 16. Totals: 23 9 59.
BRISTOL CENTRAL (50): Victor Rosa 3 0 6, Damion Glasper 3 7 13, Eli Rodriguez 0 0 0, D’Ante Ross 3 0 7, Sean Wininger 2 0 4, Carson Rivoira 2 0 4, Donovan Clingan 15 9 39. Totals: 28 16 73.
Three-point goals: Pettaway (W), Betsey (W), Williams (W), Samuels (W), Ross (BC).
Records: Bristol Central 13-0 overall; Windsor 11-2
