By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – Entering its contest with Enfield on Tuesday (6:45 p.m.), the Bristol Central boys basketball team had an entire week off from scholastic play to prepare for the encounter.

And the Central program is absolutely on fire.

The team has a 10-0 record in hand, is the top-rated team in the CIAC Division II standings (in terms of playoffs) and currently riding a school record 25-game winning streak.

However, the locals are just scratching the surface as the team has even loftier goals in store.

“We’re halfway there. We’re 10-0,” said Central coach Tim Barrette after defeating Middletown by thirty points last week. “And truthfully, we’re a third of the way there because if everything pans out, playing in [the CCC and state] tournaments, we’d like to be 30-0 by the end of this year.”

The team deserves credit because Barrette’s troops have bought in, working hard in practice and keeping away from situations that could make them sick or ill (COVID).

The Rams have been lucky on that front as other programs around the state have lost players and games due to the pandemic.

“We’re trying to stay healthy,” said Barrette who gave his guys a couple days off during the recent break. “And then we have to get ready for [Enfield this] week.”

Those seven days off got the program ready for its next 10-pack of games – a slate of contests that will challenge Central to the extreme.

Enfield (3-7) has fallen on hard times – losers of six of its last seven games – scoring just 27 points against a very good Farmington squad last Friday (53-27).

On Thursday, the Rams are off to Hartford Public, another program a bit down on its luck as well.

Platt comes to town next Monday and the schedule gets real to open February with a trip to New Haven to battle Wilbur Cross on the second of the month at the Floyd Little Athletic Center.

Four of Central’s final five games come on the road which includes visits to pesky Lewis Mills (February 7), Middletown (February 15), Maloney (February 18), and a rematch against Bristol Eastern (February 21).

“We finish with six of ten games on the road and we know that,” said Barrette. “So with that being said, we have to make sure we’re locked in because, obviously, things at home fall a lot more. But we have to make sure we’re ready to go.”

Central isn’t taking anything for granted because one loss could see the Rams tumble down the Division II standings in a hurry.

And its something Barrette and his crew are very well aware of.

“We’ve been trying to stress in practice, if you take one play off in a close game, and your perfect season and your perfect run and everything you dream about and work for can be taken away,” said Barrette. “Yes, it’s enjoyable but at the same time, we have to make sure we’re ready to go at any instant.”

Leading Scorers

Ready for a quick scoring check?

So, who leads the Rams in scoring this year anyways?

Oh yes, it’s that Donovan Clingan guy – posting an average of 25.6 points-per-game including a monster 40-point effort at East Hartford.

Clingan has scored 256 total points to date and will become the city’s leading scorer if he stays the course.

Adding his 1,421 points coming into the season, the 7-foot-2 All-Stater has scored 1,677 overall – trailing just Martin Huckaby (1,825) for the all-time Central scoring record.

And ten additional points puts Clingan in a tie with St. Paul’s Carey Edwards (1,835) for the record in the city.

Damion Glasper is second in scoring this year (10.9 ppg), followed by Carson Rivoira (9.1 ppg), and Steven Alseph (7.2 ppg).

Victor Rosa is fifth on the squad in scoring average at 4.1 ppg and there’s a common thread between all five of those players mentioned.

That grouping of athletes have started all 10 games while Julius Powell (3.1 ppg), Jayson VanBeveran and Tre Blair have also played in every game to date.

Consistency counts in large amounts and that’s how a successful program gets the job done.

History was made against Middletown

And let’s throw another accolade at Clingan as he rejected a school record 16 shots last week in Central’s 30-point drilling of the Blue Dragons.

Clingan, who appeared a bit agitated after a couple Middletown players knocked him down early in the game, started blocking shots left and right.

And by half, the center already had a double-figure block total and was well on his way to the Central record.