By Michael Letendre

MERIDEN – The Bristol Eastern girls basketball squad nearly forced overtime against Maloney on Tuesday night but ended up dropping a tough 52-49 decision on the road in Meriden.

The Lancers nabbed a couple leads early in the fourth frame but never could sustain the edge before the Spartans’ JayLice Rosario hit late buckets to ice the event.

However, Eastern nearly tied the game up as senior stud Ciara Collins just missed banking in a 3 at the buzzer which would have knotted things up at 52-52.

Maloney improved to 11-1 overall while Eastern fell to 4-7 on the campaign. 

Collins showed grit once again, posting 21 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals to lead the Lancers.

Janessa Gonzalez scored 18 points and added seven rebounds, Taigan Parent zipped up five points and three rebounds, Vanessa Drury splashed in four points and nabbed two steals while Lauren Ayotte made another solid start – scooping up seven rebounds, two assists and two steals before fouling out with 3:34 to play.

Leah Roy also contributed off the bench and was the only player to do so for the Lancers as Eastern is still down a couple players.

Rosario played well, boosting in 23 points, while Amal Bahili scored 14 but the home team needed all that offense as Eastern simply would not go away.

However, even though the loss hurt, there was an entertaining spot over the final minute of the game that involved Parent.

Late in the contest, with Eastern trailing by three, Parent was told to intentionally foul Nadia Berrios-Lugo – who hadn’t scored in the game – as Maloney was inbounding the ball.

In what turned into a classic moment with the Lancers down by five, Parent was shaking Berrios-Lugo back and forth to induce a foul call, looking like someone churning ice cream in a blender from Dunphy’s Ice Cream Store.

But as the ball was about to be put into play, one of the officials called for a flagrant foul, which meant two foul shots and the ball for Maloney despite the objections from Eastern coach Tony Floyd.

However, the play actually worked out in a roundabout way.

Berrios-Lugo made one free throw, missed the other, and then Collins stole the ball away on the ensuing possession.

Collins got fouled as she dropped in a lay-up for an and-1 and her follow-up charity shot trimmed the deficit to 49-46 with about a minute to play.

The Lancers were forced to foul again and when Bahili hit two free throws with 26.9 seconds left, the Kingstreeters were down five again at 51-46.

Parent answered by banking in a 3 and quickly, Eastern’s deficit was trimmed down to two, 51-49.

Bahili was fouled again and missed the second shot as Collins rebounded the ball.

And only down by three, Eastern was looking to hit a 3 and force overtime.

Collins dribbled around the three-point line and as time was about to run out, she took her shot, nearly banking in a 3 at the buzzer as Maloney held on to win it, 52-49.

Eastern never led in the first half, trailing 16-10 after one period and was in the hunt at the break – down just 28-24.

Trailing by two possessions late in the third, Ayotte found Gonzalez for a bucket and when Collins slipped in a shot at the buzzer, Eastern trailed 39-37 with eight minutes remaining in regulation.

Drury found Collins for a baseline three-pointer to open the fourth and after the Spartans responded, Gonzalez hit a shot for two and with 6:00 showing on the clock, the Lancers’ edge was 42-41.

But Eastern lost that cushion as Maloney answered back by hitting 7-of-8 free throws to extend its lead to 48-42 with less than two minutes to play.

In the end, Eastern just missed out on pulling the upset, dropping a tough three-point decision on the road.

BRISTOL EASTERN GIRLS BASKETBALL

MALONEY 52, BRISTOL EASTERN 49

from Francis T. Maloney high school

Bristol Eastern (4-7) 10 14 13 12 – 49

Maloney (11-1) 16 12 11 13 – 52

BRISTOL EASTERN (49): Taigan Parent 2 0 5, Vanessa Drury 2 0 4,  Ciara Collins 8 4 21, Leah Roy 0 1 1, Janessa Gonzalez 9 0 18, Lauren Ayotte 0 0 0. Totals: 21 5 49.

MALONEY (52): Evelyn Beltran 3 3 9, Amal Bahili 4 5 14, Gracey  Massiotte 2 0 5, Nadia Berrios-Lugo 0 1 1, JayLice Rosario 7 9 23. Totals: 16 18 52.

Three-point goals: Parent (BE), Collins (BE), Bahili (M), Massiotte (M).

Records: Maloney 11-1 overall; Bristol Eastern 4-7