By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – After a tough loss to Maloney the previous night, what would the response be from the Bristol Eastern girls basketball team against Hall of West Hartford?
How about a career night by Eastern All-Stater Ciara Collins?
The senior leader dropped in a career-high 38 points as the Lancers turned away pesky Hall by a 59-47 final from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium in Bristol on Wednesday.
Eastern moved to 5-7 overall off the winning endeavor while the Warriors fell to 3-9.
Collins was simply tremendous, scoring eight points in the first frame while belting Hall for 15 in the second to help the Lancers to a 32-24 push at the half.
She tallied 11 points in the third tilt and by that time of the game, she already had 34 points and her career high was in the bag.
Janessa Gonzalez scored 10 and added 10 rebounds for a slick double-double while Taigan Parent added five points, six rebounds, and four assists.
Venessa Drury nabbed two points and two rebounds while Lauren Ayotte started once again – scooping in two points, five rebounds, and two assists over another very good effort.
Amanda Noel snatched two rebounds, while Leah Roy, Tavia Swain and Gracie LaMar each made contributions to the winning effort.
McKenzie Mandyck netted 18 points to lead the visiting aggression.
The Kingstreeters never trailed in the contest, leading 15-11 after one period of play.
Hall eventually tied it up at 21-21 but with about 3:30 left in the half, Eastern embarked on a quick 9-0 run to nab a sizable halftime push. Gonzalez hit a lay-up and Collins scored three consecutive hoops – hitting a 3 along the way – as the Lancers’ lead grew to 30-21.
The Warriors scored the first hoop of the second half to trim the lead to six (30-24) but Eastern used a 15-7 run – capped by a Collins jumper – to open up a 47-33 lead.
Ahead 49-38 through three, Eastern outscored Hall 10-9 to end the contest as the Lancers earned a tough 59-47 victory.
Speaking of tough, Eastern opened Saturday morning with an early CCC South encounter at Newington high school.
BRISTOL EASTERN GIRLS BASKETBALL
BRISTOL EASTERN 59, HALL 47
from Francis T. Maloney high school
Hall (3-9) 11 13 14 9 – 47
Bristol Eastern (5-7) 15 17 17 10 – 59
HALL (47): Hall (3-9): Talia Sortman 2 3 7, Sofia Ruffo 0 0 0, Meghan Murray 1 0 2, Rylan Priest 3 2 8, McKenzie Mandyck 6 2 18, Julia Zydanowicz 2 0 5, Abigail Magendantz 3 0 6, Genevive Nelson 0 1 1. Totals: 17 8 47.
BRISTOL EASTERN (59): Taigan Parent 2 1 6, Vanessa Drury 1 0 2, Tavia Swain 0 0 0, Ciara Collins 16 4 38, Leah Roy 0 1 1, Janessa Gonzalez 4 2 10, Lauren Ayotte 1 0 2, Amanda Noel 0 0 0, Gracie LaMar 0 0 0. Totals; 24 8 59.
Three-point goals: Mandyck (H) 4, Zydanowicz (H), Parent (BE), Collins (BE) 2.
Records: Bristol Eastern 5-7 overall; Hall 3-9
