By Michael Letendre
PLAINVILLE – A cold shooting performance from the field by the Bristol Eastern boys basketball team never allowed the program to get into the flow against Plainville on Thursday night, dropping a tough 49-30 decision from the Ivan Wood Gymnasium.
It was the opening-season contest for both teams.
The Lancers hung around in the showdown by hitting 12-of-17 free throws and trailed just 20-14 at the half, playing solid defense and limiting the Blue Devils to just 40.4-percent shooting overall.
But every time Eastern could have used a hoop to defuse a Plainville run, that offensive infusion just never materialized.
The Lancers missed 19-of-21 shots from the field to open the contest and simply never recovered.
“You go on the road, [and] you don’t shoot a good percentage, it’s going to be tough to win,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray. “I thought we dug in defensively. I thought we did a decent job defensively. We’re undersized. They got some easy baskets inside. But I think offense would have helped create more energy for us on the defensive end.”
“It’s hard to dig in all night when you’re just empty, empty, empty [offensively].”
Eastern’s deficit reached 10 points after three completed quarters and ballooned to 20 midway through the fourth frame as Eastern never led in the bout.
“In the end, it just got even worse because there were more empty possessions,” said Ray. “Defensively, there were things [Plainville] was doing that weren’t anything we couldn’t handle. We just didn’t make good decisions with the ball.”
Plainville ended up displaying excellent balance offensively as Cam Lamothe zipped up 15 points and hoisted in over dozen rebounds while Dylan Brewer added 12 points.
And Brady Wieczorek and Jon Vasques scored eight points apiece to augment the Blue Devils’ offense.
For Eastern, Nasir Walker emptied the tank as he scooped in a game and career-high 18 points, making eight-of-11 free throws.
He made half of Eastern’s field goals and kept the Lancers in the hunt for as long as possible.
No other Eastern player scored more than four points.
“Nasir had a heroic effort out there,” said Ray of his point guard. “I thought some things were him trying to make a lot of one-on-ones that appeared but, I’ll be honest with you, there wasn’t a lot of people doing much. He was trying to make a play so I don’t have a problem with him as one of my few returning kids out there, pouring his heart out on the court.”
Elijah Borgelin flipped in four points and three rebounds while rejecting three shots, Brayden Dauphinais added three points and a team-high six rebounds in his first ever start while Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum and Jalen Stokes each added a hoop to the till.
Lucas Sward also earned his first varsity start and provided four rebounds, Jeremiah Tatum’s debut saw the senior collect three steals and two assists while Nate Fries (two rebounds) and Ben D’Amato saw floor time as well.
“For us, every night is a learning experience,” said Ray. “You just hope that, as the season goes on, we don’t wear down mentally and emotionally which I don’t think we will. But playing varsity basketball under these circumstances, being physically overmatched and young is tough.”
Eastern trailed 12-3 after eight minutes of play – hitting just 3-of-6 free throws over the first period – and finally hit its first field goal off a Borgelin lay-up with 5:48 to go in the second quarter.
However, the visitors trailed just 15-9 to that point of the game, down only two possessions despite the tough shooting start.
Tatum later found Walker for a huge 3 and when the Eastern point guard kicked in two charity tosses, Walker and company were down 18-14 with 2:15 remaining before the half.
A late lay-up by Brewer ended the second stanza scoring as the Blue Devils took a six-point edge into the break.
Wieczorek then scored six of Plainville’s first eight points over the opening 4:00 minutes of the third quarter and when Eastern called for time, it was a 28-14 game.
The Lancers finished the period with a mini 8-4 push as Dauphinais made his second varsity hoop while Walker hit two field goals and a couple free throws as Eastern was still hanging in, trailing 32-22 with one quarter to play.
Plainville scored the first seven points of the fourth, getting a big 3 from Brewer, and with 6:48 left, the Blue Devils’ edge reached 39-22.
Late in the fray, Stokes canned a shot in the paint, Lawrence-Bynum added a hoop and off one final free throw by Dauphinais, the Lancers fell by 19 to open the 2021-22 campaign.
“To be honest with you, it’s early in the season, [and] we’ve got a whole new team,” said Ray. “We weren’t getting into our spots, we weren’t getting easier shots. The shots we had, I thought, were decent looks. [There were] some young kids out there tonight. Hopefully as the season goes on, the lights don’t get as bright.”
RIM DUST…In JV action, Plainville led by two points after three quarters and held on to win it, 39-32…Cheniel Serrano notched 14 points while Dennis Cruz and Ben D’Amato nabbed six apiece over the losing effort.
Bristol Eastern Boys Basketball
PLAINVILLE 49, BRISTOL EASTENR 30
from the Ivan Wood Gymnasium, Plainville
Bristol Eastern (0-1) 3 11 8 8 – 30
Plainville (1-0) 12 8 12 17 – 49
BRISTOL EASTERN (30): Jeremiah Tatum 0 0 0, Lucas Sward 0 1 1, Brayden Dauphinais 1 1 3, Elijah Borgelin 1 2 4, Nasir Walker 4 8 18, Nate Fries 0 0 0, Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum 1 0 2, Ben D’Amato 0 0 0, Jalen Stokes 1 0 2. Totals: 8 12 30.
PLAINVILLE (49): George James 0 1 1, Brady Wieczorek 2 4 8, Arte Monica 2 0 4, Jon Marfia 0 1 1, Dylan Brewer 5 1 12, Jon Vasques 3 2 8, Cam Lamothe 7 1 15. Totals: 19 10 49.
Three-point goals: Nasir Walker (BE) 2, Dylan Brewer (P).
Records: Plainville 1-0; Bristol Eastern 0-1.
