By Michael Letendre
A CCC, Region B All-Conference nod went out to Bristol Eastern boys basketball standout Elijah Parent this week.
And the senior guard deserved the recognition as the shooting sensation wrapped up his final season as a four-time varsity standout for the Lancers with a big postseason burst.
It was a wild season for the Kingstreeters, coached by Bunty Ray, interrupted by the pandemic before things even got off the ground while a two-week quarantine attempted to derail things entirely.
But Parent and company never folded and despite a 3-9 final ledger, the team never stopped competing.
Parent, the program’s point guard, was the leading scorer for the Lancers in 2021 – averaging 15.7 points and 4.6 assists-per-game.
He also canned a team-leading 31 three-point field goals this year and is the all-time leader in the program history with 133 trifectas.
Parent scored 18 or more points six times this season, breaking the 20-point barrier in three games.
He dished out nine assists in the 62-53 tourney victory over South Windsor while tallying six-plus assists in four games over 2021.
In terms of three-point marksmanship, the shooter hit four three-pointers in a game this year five times and drained a season-high five 3s in that big win over South Windsor.
Parent turned it on over his last three contests, hitting 12 combined threes while dropping in 23-of-44 field goals overall (52.3-percent).
The postseason was very good for the senior as he averaged 20.0 points, 6.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals-per-game over two contests in the fourth bracket of CCC Tournament.
In fact, his 21-point performance at Hartford Public on March 25 was a season-high for Parent.
And another stat that stands out for Parent is his 3.9 GPA in the classroom.
Even after all the points and three-point bombs, that GPA is his most impressive number he carries.
And there is a collegiate future for the combo guard.
Parent has looked at schools such as Rivier University in Nashua, New Hampshire and Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts.
And don’t be surprised if Parent ends up at a certain Coast Guard Academy.
Wherever he goes, the standout is going to have a chance to play a little basketball while earning his degree.
Eastern senior Josh Kolano also had an outstanding senior season and could have made the all-conference team but fell a bit short in the voting.
He put up very good numbers in his one and only season at Eastern, averaging 10.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.2 steals-per-game.
Kolano was second on the squad with 24 three-pointers and was tops on the Eastern program in rebounds (82).
In his best game in an Eastern uniform, Kolano helped the Lancers defeat South Windsor in that postseason showdown, zipping up a team-season high of 25 points – hitting six three-pointers along the way – while scooping in 12 rebounds which was one off his career best.
