By Michael Letendre

HARTFORD – Every boys basketball team in the state of Connecticut will be coming after the program from Bristol Central with a little added zest this season.

The No. 1 ranked program in all the state has a bullseye on its back but it truly doesn’t matter if the Rams are locked in defensively.

That means points could be at a premium when trying to battle Central and its arsenal of talented players.

And in the first contest of the Sixth Annual GHPA High School Basketball Classic on Saturday, defense ruled the day for Central – limiting Southington to just 11 field goals overall – as the locals flipped the Knights by a 55-29 final from the Ferris Center on the campus of Trinity College in Hartford.

The 29 points were the third fewest ever allowed in a game during the Donovan Clingan era at Central.

But Southington muddied the water early with its deliberate pace, slowing the game down, and hitting shots to keep things close into the early stages of the third tilt.

Leading by two at 26-24, Central’s defensive helped fuel a 29-3 second half run to snuff out the Knights as the Rams won big in the end.

“One thing about [Southing coach’s] John [Cessario] teams, they run that offense like Novocaine,” said Central coach Tim Barrette. “It takes a little while to work but they run their cuts hard, they screen well, they do all those things well. We hung in there with that pace and then we got out early. We went to our zone in the fourth quarter and we turned the game around with our ball-pressure.”  

After Southington pulled within two early in the third period, Central’s defense limited the Knights to just five points over the final 14:25 of the game.

On the flip side, all the stars were out for the Rams as Clingan earned the Spirit of the Doc Player of the Game Award behind team highs of 24 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Damion Glasper flashed in 16 points, Carson Rivoira added nine while Victor Rosa, battling an injured knee, scored three first half points and played his usual brand of defense.

Central’s Steven Alseph came as advertised and the point guard helped set up his mates for hoops and hustled all over the court in his Rams’ debut.

Steals by Glasper, Rosa, and Alseph helped keep the Knights from adding to its tally while Central’s bench made several contributions to the winning effort.

And when Alseph got into foul trouble, Tre Blair, Mason Stokes, and Aaron Brown played well to help Central stay ahead in the fray.

“Steve got into a little foul trouble, Victor goes down and we’re down two guards that started,” said Barrette. “I thought Aaron Brown, Mason Stokes, and Tre Blair did a great job today in the minutes they gave us. It’s probably not as many as they want but there valuable minutes.”

“And you have to be ready to play at any time.”

Ryan Hammerlund canned 10 of his 15 points over first half play to lead the Knights – scoring over half of the team’s points.

Otherwise, the squad was shut down by an aggressive Central defensive flurry.

Southington tried to triple-team Clingan early but that left Glasper to net a 10-point first quarter.

Central zipped out to a 10-0 push to start things as Glasper notched eight of those points just 4:55 into things.

Southington eventually trimmed the deficit to seven but when Clingan found Glasper for one final lay-up to end the first frame, it was a 16-7 contest in Central’s favor.

Rosa opened the second stanza with a jumper, off a sweet pass by Rivoira, and then the UCONN bound football talent set Clingan up for a sizzling dunk and with 6:51 to go in the half, it was a 20-7 game.

Southington eventually went on an 8-1 burst as Central missed a couple high-percentage hoops and when Aiden Buck and Hammerlund dropped in back-to-back 3s, the deficit was chopped to 21-15 with 5:04 left in the second.

Late in the period, Glasper made a nifty touch-pass for an easy Rivoira lay-up and at intermission, Southington kept things close – trailing 26-22.

To open the third, Southington’s Reysean Epps hit a jumper to chop the deficit to 26-24 but with Central’s defense completely smothering Southington, the offense dried up quickly for the Knights.

Central ended the quarter with 10 consecutive points as Clingan, showing a deft touch, scored four straight hoops, and when Glasper ended the scoring with two charity tosses, it was a 36-24 game with eight minutes to play.

“Teams are going to want to slow the pace down” against us said Barrette. “Teams are content with being down 12 [points]. It’s a hard thing to do, it’s a hard thing to teach your kids, but I thought we were locked in defensively no matter if the possession was 20 seconds or a minute long. I thought we were locked in all day defensively.”

Central then ended the suspense early in the fourth via a 9-0 run – including a steal and two free throws from Rivoira and four straight Glasper points – as the top-rated team in the state scooped up a 45-24 edge with 5:22 remaining.

From there, Stokes canned a 3, Rivoira hit a traditional three-point play, and when Alseph found Clingan for a loud alley-pop, Central’s edge reached 55-27, and the winning squad emptied the bench – eventually capturing a twenty-six point victory in its opening game.

“One down and we’re back to work tomorrow morning,” said Barrette. “We have a big one Monday night [against East Catholic]. This is one of those games they call a trap game [against Southington]. I was happy to have it on the first night of the year because these guys were excited to play.”

Bristol Central Boys Basketball – 2021 GHPA High School Basketball Classic

BRISTOL CENTRAL 55, SOUTHINGTON 29

from the Ferris Athletic Central, Trinity College in Hartford

Southington (0-1) 7 15 2 5 – 29

Bristol Central (1-0) 16 10 10 19 – 55

SOUTHINGTON (29): Reysean Epps 1 0 2, Ryan Hammerlund 6 0 15, Aiden Buck 1 3 6, Nathan CoFrancesco 0 0 0, Eli Whitehead 0 0 0, Carson Lentini 0 0 0, Dan McGetrick 0 0 0, Senbato Heath 0 0 0, Ian Beierle 0 0 0, Luke Penna 3 0 6. Totals: 11 3 29.

BRISTOL CENTRAL (55): Victor Rosa 1 1 3, Damion Glasper 5 6 16, Tre Blair 0 0 0, Steven Alseph 0 0 0, Mason Stokes 1 0 3, Aaron Brown 0 0 0, Carson Rivoira 3 3 9, Donovan Clingan 11 2 24, Julius Powell 0 0 0, Jayeson VanBeveren 0 0 0, Jonmanuel Gomez 0 0 0. Totals: 21 12 55.

Three-point field goals: Ryan Hammerlund (S) 3, Aiden Buck (S), Mason Stokes (BC).

Records: Bristol Central 1-0; Southington 0-1