By Michael Letendre
Photos by Herve Letendre
BRISTOL – It’s been a tremendous campaign for the Bristol Central boys basketball team.
And even after the Rams disposed of pesky Berlin last Saturday in the final regular season game from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium this year, there’s still more home games to come in Central Connecticut Conference and CIAC Division II Tournament play.
But Saturday was special for the program, celebrating senior night, as eight unique athletes were honored for their contributions to the squad.
And by the completion of the night, Central’s head coach Tim Barrette also celebrated a milestone victory as he tied the mark for program wins.
But as the long time coach noted, this occasion belonged to the senior class of Jelani Walton, Steve Alseph, Carson Rivoira, Damion Glasper, Victor Rosa, Zach Vanesse, Aaron Brown and the Connecticut Gatorade State Player of the Year Donovan Clingan.
“They deserve everything,” said Barrette of his senior core. “The record [timekeeper Dave Greenleaf] announced for me at the end [for program wins] was because of them. It doesn’t happen without them.”
Barrette notched his 172nd all-time win against Berlin, tying him for first place in program history alongside Ed Phelan (1980-1990).
Phelan’s final game saw his team win the Class L championship in 1990 – a program that went 24-0 overall – with the likes of Malcolm Huckaby and Lonnie Brooks at the helm.
Will Barrette follow that same script on his way to becoming the all-time winningest coach in program history?
Barrette is quick to pass off the credit to his players – a group of outstanding athletes that has produced nearly 60 wins over their four years with the program.
“They’ve won 57 games over the last four years. Those numbers are astonishing,” said Barrette. “They’ve won 32 games in a row to this point. They deserved everything they got tonight.”
Clingan has been even better than advertised if you can believe it, averaging 29.4 points-per-game – leading to exactly 500 points this year.
His 51 points against Windsor is the most a Bristol public school player has ever scored in a game and is one point off the single-city scoring record held by Mark Noon (he scored 52 points against Prince Tech back on January 15, 1974).
His 31 rebounds on that same night was an amazing contribution as well.
The center has 1,921 career points – a city scholastic record for both boys and girls.
Glasper (11.4 ppg) would be a leading scorer for several other programs around the state and currently leads the squad in three-pointers made with 17.
Rivoira (8.5 ppg) is an animal, plain and simple, and believes every loose ball is his.
He’s an excellent offensive rebounder, his passing game is tremendous while adding a little three-point shooting to his offensive arsenal (eight).
Alseph (6.4 ppg) does his talking on the court with his defense and hustle.
He’s second on the squad in three-pointers made (10) and doesn’t have any problem being physical and mixing it up against opposing squads.
Victor Rosa (5.2 ppg), like Clingan, is another once in a generation athlete – the Gatorade Player of the Year in the state for football – and is lightning quick on the court with power to finish at the hoop while shooting with range.
That starting five has been the best unit in the state, hands down. No other program in the Nutmeg State is even in the same company.
Walton, Vanesse, and Aaron Brown have all supported the program, sacrificing minutes and playing with guile when getting into games.
Picking up the 53-34 victory over Berlin on senior night gave the program a share of the CCC South Championship – simply the tip of the iceberg if everything works out for this outstanding team by the time the postseason is complete.
“I couldn’t be prouder of them,” said Barrette. “Today was going to be a great day. We clinched a share of the conference title today and celebrated eight great kids, never mind players.”
