By Michael Letendre
SOUTH WINDSOR – The Bristol Eastern boys basketball team trailed South Windsor by just two possessions with 2:54 left to play in its Central Connecticut Conference Interdivisional game on Tuesday.
The Lancers worked hard to keep things close throughout but in the end, the Bobcats made critical free throws while Eastern just couldn’t hit a big shot late – falling 51-42 in South Windsor.
It was the final road game of the season for the Lancers (3-14).
The Kingstreeters took good shots at the hoop but simply couldn’t get them to consistently drop in as South Windsor nabbed a quick 8-2 cushion in the showdown and never looked back.
“There were some wide open [shots], we just couldn’t knock them down,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray. “We put in a little wrinkle just to get the ball inside and it’s young kids trying to make decisions. They made some good ones. Obviously, in those types of games you want every decision to be right. I thought we made some pretty good decisions. The ball moved. It was just a shot here, a shot there, not being able to knock down a 3 and match [South Windsor’s threes].”
Hakim Montgomery led the Bobcats (6-11) with 18 points, Anthony Deciantis cashed in on 14, and Ben Brochu scored 12 on senior night for the program.
“That’s a decent, athletic team,” said Ray of South Windsor. “Their record is kind of deceiving. They play tough teams. We did everything we could.”
Eastern was hanging around the entire game, trimming the deficit to three early in the fourth frame but couldn’t get over the hump.
Brayden Dauphinais had his best game in an Eastern uniform, splashing in a game-high 20 points to go along with nine rebounds, three assists, and three blocked shots.
He attacked the hoop with zest, hit his free throws, and nearly helped his team draw even late.
“He was awesome,” said Ray of Dauphinais. “That was the perfect game for him. It was a good confidence game because he was able to get into the middle of the defense, started playing stronger, made solid moves and he was able to knock down some shots very confidently. I had to give him a little bit a break there in the beginning to let him know that he belonged in this game.”
“I’m starting to think now that the more varsity games they play, the more they start to realize how much they belong.”
Jerry Tatum mirrored the effort Ray wanted as he canned a season best 12 points and seven rebounds. He tallied two steals and kicked in all three 3-point bombs he attempted.
Lukas Sward (five points, four rebounds, three assists) did a little bit of everything, Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum nabbed 12 rebounds – getting five of those on the offensive glass – while Nate Fries zipped up three points, four rebounds, and a team-high four assists.
Ben D’Amato, Zaveyan Tate, and Dante DePass all gave something to the Eastern effort.
Eastern’s defense was clutch, limiting the Bobcats to a 29-percent shooting clip overall from the field and 25-percent from deep.
But 14 offensive rebounds allowed secondary chances and the home squad cashed in on several of those.
“Once again, we defend the first action and then it’s the second and third action – the little breakdown, not playing the defensive possession through,” said Ray. “Our kids chased screens. I thought we could have been a little more physical with the cuts and that allowed them to get comfortable.”
Tatum drained a 3 midway through the first quarter, Lawrence-Bynum flipped in a lay-up and when Dauphinais ended the scoring with a hoop, the Bobcats led 14-9 through eight minutes.
Dauphinais and Tatum supplied early baskets to open the second stanza but Deciantis dropped in two NBA-range 3s and when Montgomery canned a hoop with 3:01 before the half, it was a double-digit affair (25-15).
“I think [Deciantis] hit a couple big threes on us and he hit them from deep,” said Ray.
Fries and Dauphinais both scored to end the half as Eastern was in the hunt, trailing 25-19.
The Lancers outscored the Bobcats 12-10 in the third period as Tatum hit his third three, Dauphinais connected on four straight free throws, Sward added a blistering 3 and when Dauphinais ended the tilt with a jumper, Eastern was knocking on the door – down 35-31.
To open the fourth quarter, Dauphinais hit 1-of-2 free throws as the Eastern trailed 35-32 but South Windsor had answers the rest of the way.
Deciantis and Brochu later flipped in 3s and when Colby Carr found himself all alone on the baseline for a lay-up, his bucket made it 46-38 with 1:50 left.
From there, the Bobcats played keep-away, Eastern made a few costly turnovers, South Windsor hit 5-of-6 free throws to ice the event, and when the final buzzer sounded, the Lancers had fought hard but dropped a tough nine-point decision.
“When you’re in a game like that, you just need somebody to make a shot,” said Ray. “They had their guy knock down a few threes. We just couldn’t get off from behind the three-point line tonight. I think that hurt us. They were hitting threes and we were working for twos.”
BRISTOL EASTERN BOYS BASKETBALL
SOUTH WINDSOR 51, BRISTOL EASTERN 42
from South Windsor high school
Bristol Eastern (3-14) 9 10 12 11 – 42
South Windsor (6-11) 14 11 10 16 – 51
BRISTOL EASTERN (42): Lukas Sward 2 0 5, Jerry Tatum 3 3 12, Ben D’Amato 0 0 0, Brayden Dauphinais 7 5 20, Nate Fries 1 1 3, Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum 1 0 2, Dante DePass 0 0 0, Zaveyan Tate 0 0 0. Totals: 14 9 42.
SOUTH WINDSOR (51): Hakim Montgomery 6 5 18, Ben Brochu 4 2 12, Anthony Deciantis 4 3 14, Ty Casey 1 0 2, Colby Carr 1 0 2, Emecka Okoh 1 1 3. Totals: 17 11 51.
Three-Point goals: Brayden Dauphinais (BE), Lukas Sward (BE), Jerry Tatum (BE) 3, Hakim Montgomery (SW), Ben Brochu (SW) 2, Anthony Deciantis (SW) 3.
Records: South Windsor 6-11 overall; Bristol Eastern 3-14.
