By Michael Letendre
HARTFORD – When the Central Connecticut Conference finally got its regular season started, no one was quite sure what the postseason would look like.
What were the qualifying metrics going to be for squads to qualify? And would every team be invited to play in the pandemic shorted postseason campaign?
It turned out that all the teams of the CCC, in all four regions, would be represented over four tiers of play and that meant the Lancers – who haven’t qualified for the postseason since 2015 – made the most of its opportunity on March 23.
Eastern, ranked #28 in the CCC Tournament fourth tier, earned a home seed against No. 29 South Windsor.
And the Lancers were looking for a big win.
That victory came to pass as Eastern wrangled up a 62-53 triumph, thanks in large part to a 29-point third quarter shooting exhibition.
And despite the long lay-off and tomfoolery that was abundant during the winter sports campaign, Eastern was able to get to the pay window over postseason play.
“You can’t control what happened,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray. “You can only control what’s going to happen, and I think that was a way for all of us to just breathe. To get a win and see the buzzer go off and see more points for us than [South Windsor], was important for them to see visually. Because you have to get rewarded for your hard work or what are you here for?”
The program was last in the postseason during 2015, ranked No. 25 after going 10-10 to end regular season play.
On March 10, 2015, the Lancers were up by five late against No. 5 Bunnell but the squad from Stratford ended up defeating Eastern in the end, 61-55.
That Bunnell program ended up winning the 2015 Class L championship that season.
But the bottom line this year was that Eastern returned to the postseason picture and made the most of its chances.
“It’s a tournament game” win said Eastern coach Bunty Ray. “They haven’t been in this situation. To get past the first round and be able to give yourself a chance to play meaning games is what we want to do here.”
It’s been a challenge for the Eastern program over the last five seasons and just getting a chance to compete in the postseason was a welcomed proposition.
The Lancers will be graduating eight seniors from the program this year and it will be up to Nasir Walker-Jenkins – the only player returning with any varsity experience in 2021-22 – to lead the ship and that means several JV players are going to have step up and get ready for the bright lights of varsity action.
Brayden Dauphinais is a bit of a scoring machine, dropping 31 points in a JV game at Plainville back in mid-February, and outside shooter Nate Fries can also light it up quickly.
Those two will have to muster some of the scoring load next year.
Guard Lucas Sward does a bit of everything while Max Stavens and Preston Guarda could be called into duty for the Lancers.
And then Ben D’Amato has some of the long-range scoring punch that his father Chris used to show on the court at Eastern back in 1993.
Others will also have to step up if Eastern wants to remain competitive next season.
“We’ve had some tough luck over the last five years,” said Ray. “but we’ve got to turn this around. These young kids are in for a little bit of a shock in the physically of the CCC but I think they’re up for the challenge.”
“I just want to keep going forward.”
Ray is losing a good group of seniors he enjoyed coaching all season long this year.
Graduating from the program were Jack Stavens, Josh Kolano, Trini Otero, Axel Fernandez, Tyler Donohue, and Trevor Nohilly along with captains Dylan Woodsome and Elijah Parent.
“I love the seniors,” said Ray at the completion of Eastern’s final game against Hartford Public. “When I was talking about character, they got through the four years. They’ve had some ups and downs and things go their way, but they’ve had more things not go their way, but they stuck around. They have character. I’m sorry they have to go. I wish I had another year [with them] in a normal situation where they would have been able to thrive.”
