By Michael Letendre
The Bristol Eastern girls basketball team went 1-1 this week, coming from behind to take out Berlin on Tuesday (43-40) while falling to Glastonbury (41-37) two days later.
At the halfway mark of the season, the Lancers are 4-6 but have a slew of home games to end the campaign.
Tuesday saw the Lancers sweep the Redcoats this season but the three-point victory was a challenge because Eastern trailed for most of the showdown.
Eastern trailed by six after one period (8-2), notching just two points over the first eight minutes of play.
Berlin led by nine (20-11) at the half and increased that edge to 29-18 after three completed frames.
It wasn’t looking good early in the fourth but the Lancers made a huge comeback in the end.
Eastern outscored Berlin 25-11 in the fourth period – good enough for a 43-40 comeback victory.
Ciara Collins notched a team-high 20, Janessa Gonzalez added 11, and Taigan Parent flipped in eight to pace the winners.
Lauren Ayotte notched a career-high four points for the Lancers.
Collins dropped in half of her points over a tremendous effort in the fourth frame, including a basket on one of her patented spin moves in the lane late in the stanza.
She dropped in four consecutive foul shots down the stretch to help seal the win.
Gonzalez added nine points to the till in the fourth, including a rare three-pointer from the baseline.
But on Thursday, Eastern had a tough four-point set-back at Glastonbury, dropping a tough 41-37 decision on the road.
Collins, who has led her team in scoring over the last 25 games, dropped in 29 points in the losing effort – including 13 over a big fourth quarter comeback bid.
The contest was a back-and-forth affair in the first half, but a late 3 from
Glastonbury’s Madison Handrahan gave the home squad a 19-15 cushion at the half.
Over the first six minutes of the third period, Glastonbury outscored Eastern 16-4 as the only Eastern points were our foul shots by Collins.
The Guardians nabbed a 35-19 lead before two baskets from Vanessa Drury towards the end of the third – the second one off a steal and drive for a layup – trimmed the deficit to 35-23 at the end of the three.
But in the fourth, Collins dropped in 13 points – three hoops and 7-of-9 shots the free throw line – as Eastern got to within two points at 39-37 with 58 seconds to play.
But Kiley Feeney’s two foul shots with 5.4 seconds left gave the Guardians a four-point edge for the final margin of victory.
BRISTOL EASTERN GIRLS BASKETBALL
BRISTOL EASTERN 43, BERLIN 40
from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium, Bristol
Berlin (5-5) 8 12 9 11 – 40
Bristol Eastern (4-5) 2 9 7 25 – 43
BERLIN (40): Jenna Wenzel 3 8 14, Janessa Yaconiello 1 0 2, Ava Desmaurice 0 0 0, Rylee Cop 2 1 6, Clare McGeever 1 0 2, Emma Ellison 2 2 6, Aliva Halkias 0 4 4, Kailee DeMaio 3 0 6. TOTALS: 12 15 40
BRISTOL EASTERN (43): Taigan Parent 4 0 8, Vanessa Drury 0 0 0, Tavia Swain 0 0 0, Emily Piendak 0 0 0, Ciara Collins 5 9 20, Leah Roy 0 0 0, Janessa Gonzalez 4 2 11, Lauren Ayotte 2 0 4, Gracie LaMar 0 0 0. TOTALS: 15 11 43.
Three-point goals: Rylee Cop (Berlin), Ciara Collins (BE), Janessa Gonzalez.
Records: Bristol Eastern 4-5 overall; Berlin 5-5
BRISTOL EASTERN GIRLS BASKETBALL
GLASTONBURY 41, BRISTOL EASTERN 37
from Glastonbury high school
Bristol Eastern (4-6) 7 8 8 14 – 37
Glastonbury (8-5) 11 8 16 6 – 41
BRISTOL EASTERN (37): Taigan Parent 0 0 0, Vanessa Drury 2 2 6, Emily Piendak 0 0 0, Ciara Collins 7 14 29. Leah Roy 0 0 0, Janessa Gonzalez 0 2 2, Lauren Ayotte 0 0 0. TOTALS: 9 18 37.
GLASTONBURY (41): Sydney Kehl 3 4 11, Kiley Feeney 1 4 7, Alyssa Healey 1 1 3, Gisel Astiasaran 2 0 4, Skylar Fiske 2 0 5, Madison Handrahan 3 2 9, Lily Woodworth 1 0 2, Julen Astiasaran 0 0 0. TOTALS: 13 11 41.
Three-point goals: Ciara Collins (BE), Sydney Kehl (G), Kiley Feeney (G), Skylar Fiske (G), Madison Handrahan (G).
Records: Glastonbury 8-5 overall; Bristol Eastern 4-6
