By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The Bristol Eastern girls basketball team scored the first eleven points of its Central Connecticut Conference Interdivisional challenge against East Catholic on Tuesday night and never looked back – snaring a 59-47 victory from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium in Bristol.
And all eight players Eastern turned to did something positive for the program – helping the squad to its second win (2-3) and moving one game away from a .500 ledger.
“I think the biggest thing was, I was very pleased about how everybody contributed at the beginning of the game,” said Eastern coach Tony Floyd. “We played defense, we executed on offense, and we did extremely well over the first four or five minutes.”
East Catholic (0-6) has yet to win a game the season.
Eastern senior Ciara Collins attacked the hoop with zest but was rarely rewarded with trips to the foul line.
She still ended the game with another huge effort, including a game-high 24 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and three steals.
Collins canned 3 threes and was, once again, the most dominant force on the court.
“Even though Ciara didn’t shoot well, she still got people to play well out there,” said Floyd. “Her and Taigan [Parent] did a really nice job the last two games getting everybody organized, getting the floor balanced, and directing traffic and that’s important. I took them out of their roles without Emma [Stavens] and I thought they did a really nice job today.”
Janessa Gonzalez posted a tremendous double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds to go along with two steals.
Parent flashed in six points, four rebounds, and five assists while Vanessa Drury started again – producing four points and three rebounds.
Emily Piendak added four rebounds and blocked a couple shots while the trio of Lauren Ayotte, Gracie LaMar, and Leah Roy all provided relief off the pine
That bench crew combined for nine points and 14 rebounds – an excellent contribution over the winning effort.
Lamar snatched a career-high five points and nabbed three rebounds, Ayotte added two points and a varsity best six rebounds, and Roy flipped in two points and five rebounds.
“Our bench gave us a little something today,” said Floyd. “I thought Emily, Lauren, and Gracie did a great job defensively. I think they’re starting to come around, playing defense in the post and even made a few shots here and there. That helped.”
“Those three did a really good job coming off the bench today.”
Eastern out-rebounded the Eagles, 55-32, and never trailed in the contest.
What became apparent early in the showdown was the officials were going to let the girls play which induced a tough shooting night for the Lancers.
And pesky East Catholic refused to go away, chopping a 20-point third period deficit to 12 late before time ran out.
Nicole May scored 14 points while Alexis Jablonecki and Zoe Latina each added 10 for the Eagles.
East Catholic was limited to 33-percent shooting from the field (21-of-63) and missed two of 10 free throws.
And the visiting aggression got behind early and never recovered as Gonzalez scooped in a lay-up to start that game-opening 11-0 push and when Parent found Collins for a 3 to end the spurt, the Eagles had yet to score four minutes into the game.
To end the stanza, Collins hit a sweet turnaround jumper and when she canned one of two free throws – she only attempted four total charity shots although she drove the lane all evening long – with 13.8 seconds left in the first, it was an 14-6 game.
A three from the Eagles’ Kayliana Salazar trimmed the deficit to five early in the second stanza before an 8-0 Eastern jaunt, including hoops by Ayotte, LaMar, and Gonzalez, made it a 22-9 contest with 4:21 remaining in the half.
Turnovers didn’t allow the Lancers to extend their advantage going into the break as East Catholic dropped the deficit to 28-18 at the break.
“We took off the press,” said Floyd. “We got back into half court [defense]. We sort of slacked off a little bit. We lost a little of our intensity and the focus.”
“I thought the biggest thing is we got away from our [transition].”
Two minutes into the third tilt, May scored twice for the Eagles, keeping it close at 32-22 before the home team went on a period-ending 16-8 sprint.
Collins simply took over, notching 14 points in the run – including two huge 3s – as the Lancers carried an imposing 48-28 edge going into the final eight minutes of action.
The teams traded hoops over the first four-plus minutes of the fourth and when Gonzalez slipped in six straight points for Eastern, it was a 57-41 contest with 3:35 remaining.
The Eagles managed to close the deficit to 12 late before time expired as Eastern earned its second win of the season via the 59-47 win.
“Overall, I thought we got two good quarters if you add them all together,” said Floyd. “We’ve got to get a full game and that’s our goal, to get better and better and to get comfortable out there and communicate better.”
“I don’t want to be talking all the time [but] we have to communicate out there better as a team and I think the older kids are starting to understand what those young kids can and can’t do and give them the ball in certain spots.”
RIM DUST…The Bristol Eastern JV team won its game against East Catholic by a 35-32 final. LaMar had a big bucket down the stretch to post the Lancers to a late five-point edge, helping seal the win.
BRISTOL EASTERN GIRLS BASKETBALL
BRISTOL EASTERN 59, EAST CATHOLIC 47
from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium – Tuesday, January 11
East Catholic (0-6) 6 12 10 19 – 47
Bristol Eastern (2-3) 14 14 20 11 – 59
EAST CATHOLIC (47): Kayliana Salazar 3 0 8, Alexis Jablonecki 5 0 10, Zoe Latina 5 0 10, Nicole May 6 2 14, Jillian Vichi 2 0 5. Totals: 21 2 47.
BRISTOL EASTERN (59): Taigan Parent 3 0 6, Vanessa Drury 2 0 4, Emily Piendak 0 0 0, Ciara Collins 9 3 24, Leah Roy 1 0 2, Janessa Gonzalez 7 2 16, Lauren Ayotte 1 0 2, Gracie LaMar 2 1 5. Totals: 25 6 59.
Three Point Goals: Kayliana Salazar (EC) 2, Jillian Vicki (EC), Ciara Collins (BE) 3.
Records: Bristol Eastern 2-3; East Catholic 0-6
