By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – It took over a month, between quarantines, reschedules, one-possession losses and just general tomfoolery for the Bristol Eastern boys basketball team to final get back to the pay window.

And after a buzzer-beating defeat at the hands of Avon the previous Saturday to end regular season play, the CCC Boys Basketball postseason tournament provided the backdrop to right that wrong.

In a first round, fourth bracket showdown against South Windsor on Tuesday night, the Lancers led wire-to-wire as the locals turned away the Bobcats by a 62-53 final from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium in Bristol.

It was the first victory for the program since Eastern (3-8) defeated Southington (59-49) back on February 20.

The game was a 24-17 contest at the half but after an amazing 29-point third period explosion by the Lancers, a close bout turned into a bit of a blowout.

“It was great to see. Offense creates so much energy,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray. “Shots were going down, the ball was moving well.” 

Josh Kolano had a ten-point quarter in the third frame and took home season-highs of 25 points and 12 rebounds.

Kolano drained 6-of-9 three-pointers in the game and was one 3 away from tying the school record established by Elijah Parent just last year.

Speaking of Parent, the senior guard was on fire in the third – dropping in 14 points – and tallied 19 points, four rebounds, and nine assists.

He sunk a season-high five three-pointers in the game, going 5-of-10 from deep overall.

By the time the Lancers finished scoring in the third tilt, Eastern led 53-35 and was in complete control. 

“Elijah was unconscious,” said Ray of Parent in the third period. “Josh started making shots too. You could see us just getting looser and playing with more aggressiveness on defense. It was fun to watch us in the third quarter.” 

Also for the Lancers, Trini Otero added six points, five rebounds and two assists, Nasir Walker and Tyler Donohue (two blocks) each notched four points while Jack Stavens canned a three.

Dylan Woodsome, Trevor Nohilly, and Axel Fernandez all played well in Eastern’s final home game of the campaign.

Eastern hit 23-of-42 field goals overall (55-percent) while flipping in 12-of-25 three-pointers (48-percent).

Defensively, the Lancers contained pesky South Windsor (2-11) to 39-percent shooting from the field, 18-percent from downtown and never had a serious shot at it though the visitors tried to make it a game with ninety seconds remaining.

But even in a nine-point game, the Bobcats just couldn’t get over the hump.

“I’m going to credit coach Parent for that one,” said Ray of Eastern’s defense. “I wanted to mix defenses but he saw something that I didn’t see. He saw the zone was really working. I was afraid of their shooters when I saw them but you know, we stayed through the process. They had to take a lot of time to score and when we already had the big lead, it was good.” 

Ben Brochu splashed in 21 points while Bailey Cash added 13 for South Windsor. 

Parent found Walker early in the first quarter for a lay-up as Eastern started out with a 7-2 lead just three minutes into the showdown.

A Kolano 3 made it a double-figure affair but when Bellizzi hit one of his own with four seconds to play in the first, Eastern’s lead was 18-9 eight minutes into things.

Eastern’s offense stalled out a bit in the second stanza but Kolano hit two big 3s for all the program’s six points in the frame. 

“He’s more than capable,” said Ray of Kolano. “He had half-a-season robbed from him. It usually takes half-a-season just to get acclimated to varsity games. He’s got the ability to do things like that. He was pretty good today. He’s a nice complementary player to our team, he also rebounded, and did a lot of things out there that was pretty good.” 

“We’re lucky to have him.” 

But the Bobcats scored just eight in the second quarter – thanks to excellent defense by the Lancers – and at the halftime break, Eastern’s edge was 24-17.

And then in the third tilt, the home team broke the bank.

Brochu hit a field goal with 5:40 left in the third to chop the deficit to 31-23 before Parent went haywire from 3-point territory.

Parent canned three straight 3s and when Kolano added a fall-away and a three of his own, Eastern’s edge of 45-23 with 2:51 remaining in the third quarter – via a 14-0 run – made it a 45-23 contest, the Lancers’ biggest lead of the game.

To end the third, Walker found Donohue for a lay-up while Brochu hit a 3 and with one quarter remaining, Eastern led 53-35.

The Bobcats made a bit of a run in the fourth frame, going on a 16-7 jaunt, and off a two quick hoops with 1:35 to go, South Windsor trailed 60-51.

But even as the Bobcats had a chance to further reduce the deficit, Eastern made big defensive plays down the stretch. 

“Tell you the truth, I was a little calmer today than the other day” when Avon came from behind to win said Ray. “Again, we had some time to practice, we had some time to go through that situation, and we looked up, broke the pressure for lay-ups, and kept them at an arm’s length.” 

“The other day, that didn’t happen, so we needed to make sure that was going to happen.” 

Walker made a late lay-up, Donohue had a critical steal and even as Brochu ended the contest with one final hoop, Eastern came away with a big nine-point victory – advancing in CCC Tournament play against top-seeded Hartford Public in bracket four play on Thursday in Hartford.

CCC Boys Basketball Tournament, Bracket Four – Round One

BRISTOL EASTERN 62, SOUTH WINDSOR 53
from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium, Bristol

South Windsor (2-11)           9 8 18 18 – 53
Eastern (3-8)                          18 6 29 9 – 62

SOUTH WINDSOR (53): Anthony Bellizczi 4 0 9, Ben Brochu 8 2 21, Tyler Goodreault 2 0 5, Anthony DeDantis 0 1 1, Bailey Cash 6 1 13, Riley Morse 2 0 4. Totals: 22 4 53.
BRISTOL EASTERN (62): Nasir Walker 2 0 4, Elijah Parent 7 0 19, Josh Kolano 9 1 25, Dylan Woodsome 0 0 0, Axel Fernandez 0 1 1, Trini Otero 2 2 6, Jack Stavens 1 0 3, Tyler Donohue 2 0 4, Trevor Nohilly 0 0 0, Nate Fries 0 0 0, Brayden Dauphinais 0 0 0. Totals: 23 4 62.
Three-point goals: Bellizczi (SW), Brochu (SW) 3, Goodreault (SW), Kolano (BE) 6, Parent (BE) 5, Stavens (BE).

Records: Bristol Eastern 3-8 overall; South Windsor 2-11