By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – Records come in all shapes and sizes and this past Monday night, Bristol Central boys basketball star Donovan Clingan established another one.
Clingan mauled the Panthers to the tune of 44 points through three quarters – helping his squad to an eventual 79-48 decision over Platt – and unbeknownst to him, he was one point away from the single-game scoring record at Bristol Central.
And the coaching staff inserted Clingan into the line-up to start the fourth quarter with the intent of helping him establish that new standard.
After four or so turnovers – attempting to feed Clingan the ball – Central’s Steven Alseph zipped the rock to the big man, dunking it with authority, plus a foul, and when his final free throw fell through with 7:12 remaining in the game, the future UCONN talent scooped up his 47th and final point.
“Obviously, that’s something he deserved tonight, “said Central coach Tim Barrette of Clingan’s school record. “The performance he had tonight (47 points and 26 rebounds) is an unbelievable night.”
The most impressive part of the record was who Clingan was able to top for it.
Former Class L All-Stater Ryan Howse – who went on to star at the University of Hartford – was the former record holder, netting 45 points against Platt back in February of 1994.
Clingan didn’t have any clue about the record but after the 7-foot-2 giant had a 30-point first half – and knowing how pesky Platt could be – there was a chance he was going to play a bit more than usual.
And suddenly, he was at 44 points at the end of three periods and the scorer’s table was buzzing.
The record was in sight and to open the fourth and final frame, it was time for one more hoop by Clingan to seize the record away from Howes.
“[Clingan] had no idea he was even close” to the school record in points said Barrette. “He couldn’t understand why we kept saying ‘throw him the ball.’ We knew where we were at.”
Clingan could have gotten the record, perhaps, long ago but in forty point blowouts that occur along the way of a scholastic season, Barrette hustles the big man out of the game when the game is essentially over.
There’s never a need to bash opponents more than necessary and it’s simply a matter of keeping everyone healthy with a state title in mind.
“There’s certain nights when we need him more than others,” said Barrette of Clingan.
Howse/Clingan connection
There is someone on the Central bench that has a connection to both Howse and Clingan.
That’s current assistant coach Joe DeFillippi who was the head coach at Central when House was leading the Rams to a 15-win campaign in 1993-94.
DeFillippi had a front row seat when Howse dumped 45 points on Platt back in 1994.
Now, did the long time coach ever think that record by Howse would be broken?
“Yes, by Donovan,” said DeFillippi with a laugh after the historic game. “Only because there’s not many people that stop Donovan inside the paint. He’s tough. He’s just tough and now he’s developed an outside game and all of that. He’s just got a complete game.”
“If anybody could do it, I know it would be Donovan. That’s a lot of points.”
Both those talents were tall, knew how to put the ball into the hoop and were complete basketball players by the completion of their completion of their scholastic careers.
However, each went about their hardwood business in different fashions.
“Ryan wasn’t getting seven dunks,” said DeFillippi of Howse. “He was hitting 3s and hitting midrange and [getting] up and under’s, stuff like that. Donovan is more a few dunks here, put-backs, he hit a nice 3 tonight [against] Platt, [and gets] a couple midrange.”
“And Donovan’s has three guys hanging on him and that’s not easy either.”
Did he know about the record?!?
According to Clingan, he truly wasn’t sure why he started the fourth quarter against Platt but figured things out pretty quickly.
“I knew I had thirty [points] around halftime,” said Clingan after the Platt game. “[Coach Barrette] was like ‘you need to stay in for one more’ I was like either [there] was some record or I was about to have fifty. So I was like ‘I’ve got to do it. Whatever it is, I’ve got to get this bucket.’”
“So I went in, I got the dunk and then it was forty-seven.”
Like Howse’s 45, records are made to be broken.
However, are there any more records Clingan is going for?
“I’ve got two more,” said Clingan. “The all-time leading points record [at Central] and then [I want to score] 2,000 points. That’s my goal.”
However, Barrette knows there’s one team record Clingan wants more than anything before his career is said and done at Bristol Central.
And that’s a CIAC Division II state championship.
“He only cares about one” record said Barrette. “And that’s the truth. The one record he cares about is putting a banner on that [gymnasium] wall. That’s the one record he actually cares about.”
Of Note
The part of his 47 points no one truly has communicated is that no other player in Bristol Public school history has scored more points in a single Central or Eastern game.
The record at Eastern is 46, established by Eli Rodriguez back on January 30, 2012.
In that contest from Middletown, Rodriguez smashed in his school record over Eastern’s 77-73 overtime loss.
Rodriguez was simply sensational that night, trying the then school record in three-pointers made in a game with six.
After Monday night, Clingan is even one point better than Rodriguez’s amazing feat from just over 10 years ago.
The career scoring record at BC
Clingan is a stone throw’s away from catching Martin Huckaby’s record of 1,825 points – established from 1984-1988 before he played collegiately at Howard.
Don’t forget if he can tally 11 more points than Huckaby’s outstanding total, the city record will belong to Clingan.
