By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – It was twenty games up and twenty games down by the Bristol Central boys basketball team in 2021-22 as the program finished the regular season undefeated – ending things with a 76-50 victory over Bristol Eastern on Monday night from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium.
The Rams moved to a perfect 20-0 – winners of 35 straight games – as the postseason has finally arrived for the program.
Eastern (4-16) battled throughout, made it a single-digit affair early in the second period before 16 straight points by the visiting aggression never let the Kingstreeters get close again.
And along the way, Central’s Donovan Clingan became the first scholastic player from Bristol to score 2,000 points as his first dunk of a sweet feed by Damion Glasper just ten seconds into the third period gave the big man his milestone point.
He now has 2,006 points for his scholastic career.
“It feels great,” said Clingan. “My coaches, my teammates, fans, and I mean everyone, I just can’t thank them enough. It just means a lot to have all this support.”
Clingan ended his final regular season game with 31 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Victor Rosa added eight points, Steve Alseph hit for six, Glasper tallied five and Carson Rivoira nabbed a hoop as Central’s senior core never tasted defeat over the last two regular seasons.
Off the bench, Julius Powell scored eight points, Carmelo Thompson canned two threes for six and Jayeson VanBeveren scored all six of his points over a stretch of 1:59 in the second stanza.
The bigger Rams outrebounded the Lancers by 26 while holding the home squad to 31-percent shooting from the field overall.
“Even the shots [Eastern] made were contested,” said Central coach Tim Barrette. “I actually thought they made a bunch tonight [that were] contested. [For Isaiah] Lawrence-Bynum, those were tough shots early on. Give them some credit.”
Eastern’s Lukas Sward tabled a new career-high of 16 points – hitting three 3s along the way – while Lawrence-Bynum took the ball to Clingan at times, dropping in eight points which tied his season high.
Brayden Dauphinais added seven points, five rebounds, and three assists, Nate Fries tabled four points and four assists off the bench and Ben D’Amato kicked in a three to lead the offense.
“I made a conscious effort to keep the kids in,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray of his starters. “Last game [against Lewis Mills], I kind of just took them [the starters] out and put the reserves in. Today, I wanted them to play it though.”
It was the final Eastern game for seniors Jerry Tatum (seven points, two steals) and Elijah Borgelin – suiting up for his first game since January 13 due to a knee injury that ended his season prematurely.
Borgelin started for Eastern and was allowed to score a quick basket before leaving the game to a standing ovation as Central allowed him one final hoop.
“You’ve got to credit coach Barrette for allowing us to do that,” said Ray of the Borgelin basket. “I thought that was important for him to get those two points and getting in the box score. I think that was important for everybody, so I appreciate the gesture on their end. Great sportsmanship and great for Elijah to get two points tonight.”
D’Amato was actually in the circle for the opening tip but in that pre-arranged moment, Clingan won the tap and then went in for an uncontested dunk.
On the flip side, Tatum got the ball to Borgelin for a quick lay-up and at 2-2, the game was on.
Central led by six early but a slick up-and-under lay-up and then a floater from Lawrence-Bynum chopped the deficit to 10-6 with 4:50 to play in the first quarter.
But a pass off the backboard from Glasper, leading to a rim-rattling dunk from Clingan, started a 9-0 run and on a steal and lay-up by Alseph – plus another jam by Clingan – the Rams increased their edge to 21-6 with 1:16 to go in the first.
Eastern then went on an 8-2 jaunt as Fries and Sward connected on big 3s and with 7:40 to go in the half, it was a 23-14 game.
But the Lancers went over 18 minutes without hitting another trifecta, Central went on its blazing 16-0 burst, and when Clingan canned a charity shot with 2:05 left to play in the first half, the visitors were in firm control, leading 39-14.
“We wanted to run Eastern off the three-point line,” said Barrette. “We knew that would be their focus tonight. We’ve done a pretty good the last couple games of doing that.”
Sward hit a hoop late in the second but off a three-point play and one final lay-in by Clingan, Central charged up a 44-16 cushion at the half.
Ten seconds into the third tilt, Clingan had his 2,000th point in hand – earning a loud ovation from the crowd for his amazing accomplishment – then drained three more hoops, mixed around a 3 by Glasper, as Central’s edge was 55-20 and with 3:55 to go in the period.
Central quickly called for time and pulled most of its seniors from there as Rosa was the only starter left in the game.
Rosa and Zach Vanasse added late 3s and when Dauphinais ended the frame with two free throws, Central held the advantage at 63-25 with eight minutes remaining.
Eastern went on to score a season-high 25 points in the fourth quarter as the home team never gave in.
Sward kicked in two 3s, Dauphinais added one along the way, and when Tatum dropped in a lay-up with 3:51 left, it was a 72-38 game.
Eastern continued to chip away with the home team notching ten straight points, hitting 7-of-8 free throws and got a 3 from D’Amato, as the deficit was reduced to 25 late before the home team finally ran out of time.
“They’ve done a lot over the course of the year and they’ve really impressed me down the stretch,” said Ray of his starters. “I wanted to keep them on the floor because of how hard they worked and they deserved the minutes.”
In the end, Central earned a 76-50 win, the CCC South championship, and a top seed in both the upcoming CCC and CIAC Division II Tournaments.
“The last couple weeks, we’ve had a [state] tournament mindset,” said Barrette. “The last three games, we’ve been on the road [for] Middletown, Maloney and [Eastern] and we’ve come away with thirty-point victories in all three games. We’ve come out strong, haven’t taken long to get going and that’s been my message. We’ve got to jump on people right from the beginning.”
BRISTOL CITY SERIES BASKETBALL
BRISTOL CENTRAL 76, BRISTOL EASTERN 50
from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium, Bristol
Bristol Central (20-0) 23 21 19 13 – 76
Bristol Eastern (4-16) 11 5 9 25 – 50
BRISTOL CENTRAL (76): Victor Rosa 3 0 8, Mike Allan 0 0 0, Damion Glasper 2 0 5, Tre Steve Alseph 3 0 6, Zach Vanasse 1 0 3, Mason Stokes 0 0 0, Aaron Brown 0 0 0, Harry Ross 0 1 1, Carmelo Thompson 2 0 6, Jelani Walton 0 0 0, Carson Rivoira 1 0 2, Mikey McMahon 0 0 0, Donovan Clingan 14 3 31, Julius Powell 4 0 8, Jayeson VanBeveren 3 0 6, Jonmanuel Gomez 0 0 0. Totals: 33 4 76.
BRISTOL EASTERN (50): Elijah Borgelin 1 0 2, Lukas Sward 6 1 16, Brayden Dauphinais 1 4 7, Ben D’Amato 1 0 3, Nate Fries 1 1 4, Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum 3 2 8, Cheniel Serrano 0 0 0, Caleb Molinsky 0 0 0, Dante DePass 0 0 0, Jerry Tatum 2 3 7, Zaveyn Tate 0 0 0, Xavier Kalaquin 1 0 2, Jordan Chisholm 0 0 0, Brady Bell 0 1 1. Totals: 16 12 50.
Three-Point goals: Victor Rosa (BC) 2, Damion Glasper (BC), Zach Vanasse (BC), Carmelo Thompson (BC) 2, Lukas Sward (BE) 3, Brayden Dauphinais (BE), Ben D’Amato (BE), Nate Fries (BE).
Records: Bristol Central 20-0 overall; Bristol Eastern 4-16
