By Michael Letendre

ENFIELD – The Bristol Central boys basketball team had to shake off the effects of a late-morning start of its Central Connecticut Conference quarterfinal showdown against Middletown on Saturday – struggling out of the gate.

But when the top-rated locals finally woke up, a quick advantage by the eighth ranked Blue Dragons eventually evaporated as the Rams scored 19 straight points between the second and third quarters of play – eventually wrangling up a 73-58 victory over Middletown from Enfield high school.

Central moved to a sterling 22-0 – capturing its 37th straight win – while Middletown dropped to 15-7.

The victory set up another confrontation against Windsor, ranked No. 4 in the tournament fray, who belted RHAM by a 91-64 final to advance to the semifinals.

With Bristol Central’s principal falling asleep in the stands (and drooling uncontrollably at one point after the 11 a.m. start), the Blue Dragons were able to rush out to a 10-3 edge over the first four minutes of play as poor shooting, turnovers, and missed defensive assignments foiled the No. 1 seed early in the bout. 

“We weren’t awake for the first four minutes defensively. That was horrendous,” said Central coach Tim Barrette. “The eleven a.m. start and playing a team for a third time [didn’t help]. People ask why you don’t want to play a team a third time, that start today is a prime example of why.”

“With that being said, I told the guys in the locker room we haven’t seen a lot of game pressure lately so having some game pressure today was probably good for us in the long run.”

And there could even be a fourth meeting between the schools if everything falls into place in CIAC Division II play.

Donovan Clingan, posting another triple-double with a game-high 38 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 blocks, helped keep Central afloat as the team leaned on him effusively over the first period in terms of offense.

But every Clingan hoop was met by one on the flip side and when Middletown’s Marshall Butler (14 points) dropped in a floater and with 51 seconds to play in the first quarter, the Blue Dragons led 16-10.

“Give Middletown a lot of credit. They made shots tonight,” said Barrette. “They shot the ball great, kept them in the game, and we could never really finally push that away. I’m proud of my guys for hanging in there, that’s for sure.”

Clingan scored the first 13 points for Central but early in the second stanza, Damion Glasper (14 points) found Victor Rosa (seven) for a big 3 and with 7:18 left before the half, the game was all tied up at 16-16.

Middletown’s Matt Stuerwald (team-high 15 points) responded with a 3 of his own to give his team a 19-16 edge with 5:53 left in the second quarter.

But from there, Central’s defense went into overdrive – did not allow another Middletown point over the next seven minutes of play – and by the time Chase Petgrave (nine points) posted a hoop, it was a double-figure game in the Rams’ favor.

That meant Central turned defense into offense, establishing a double-figure edge the Rams held for most of the remainder of the contest.

“We locked in defensively,” said Barrette. “We allowed Middletown just three points in the second quarter. That’s the difference. When we play defense, good things can happen.”

That 19-0 burst saw Rosa hook Clingan up for a powerful dunk, Carson Rivoira (five points) set up Steve Alseph (nine) with a sweet give and go, and building upon its 30-19 halftime push, Rivoira canned a 3 and when Clingan found Glasper for one final lay-in, the top seed held an imposing 35-19 cushion with 6:47 to play in the third quarter.

Central held a 14-point lead late in the third but Nasir McDaniel (seven second-half points) hit for five straight points and when one final Clingan dunk ended the stanza, the Rams were still in front, leading by ten at 49-39 but was not able to completely shake pesky Middletown. 

“We’ve got to be better than that on Tuesday night when we play Windsor,” said Barrette. “If we play like that, we’ll lose by ten.”

The Blue Dragons simply couldn’t make it a single-digit affair in the fourth and final frame as every hoop was countered by Central.

A three from Butler with 4:35 to go was countered by two free throws by Glasper, a lay-up from Clingan and when the 7-foot-2 center tipped in a miss with 3:21 left, Central led 62-46.

Middletown chipped the deficit to 13 late but off one final Clingan hoop – coupled by free throws by Glasper and Alseph – ended the showdown as Central won the event, 73-58, to advance in CCC Tournament play on Tuesday against rival Windsor.

“We pounded the ball inside,” said Barrette. “We really didn’t shoot the ball great tonight and in the end, we still came away with the victory by 15.”

RIM DUST…Middletown was held to just three free throws, making two, while Central canned a more than credible 20-of-26 from the foul line. Glasper made 6-of-7 while Rosa was a perfect 4-of-4. 

2022 CCC BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT – QUARTERFINAL ROUND

No. 1 BRISTOL CENTRAL 73, No. 8 MIDDLETOWN 58

from Enfield high school

Middletown (15-7) 16 3 20 19 – 58

Bristol Central (22-0) 11 19 19 24 – 73

MIDDLETOWN (58): Chance Petagrave 4 0 9, Matt Steuerrad 7 0 15, Tim Vaughters 2 0 4, Omar Outierrez 0 0 0, Elijah Wilborn 2 2 6, Marshall Butler 6 0 14, Nasir McDaniel 3 0 7, Dariyon Drake 1 0 3. Totals: 25 2 58. 

BRISTOL CENTRAL (73): Victor Rosa 1 4 7, Michael Allan 0 0 0, Damion Glasper 4 6 14, Tre Blair 0 0 0, Steve Alseph 2 5 9, Mason Stokes 0 0 0, Aaron Brown 0 0 0, Jelani Walton 0 0 0, Carson Rivoira 2 0 5, Donovan Clingan 16 5 38, Julius Powell 0 0 0, Jayeson VanBeveren 0 0 0. Totals: 25 20 73.

Three-point goals: Petgrave (M), Stuerwald (M), Butler (M) 2, McDaniel (M), Drake (M), Rosa (BC), Rivoira (BC), Clingan (BC). 

Records: Bristol Central 22-0 overall; Middletown 15-7.

2022 CCC BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT – Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal Round – Saturday

Game 9 – No. 1 Bristol Central 73, No. 8 Middletown 58

Game 10 – No. 4 Windsor 91, No. 5 RHAM 64

Game 11 – No. 3 Conard 74, No. 6 Bloomfield 70

Game 12 – No. 2 Northwest Catholic 69, No. 10 East Catholic 57

*All Quarterfinal round games commenced from Enfield high school

Upcoming Schedule – Semifinals (Tuesday, March 1) 

Game 13 – No. 1 Bristol Central vs. No. 4 Windsor (6 p.m.)

Game 14 – No. 2 Northwest Catholic vs. No. 3 Conard (8 p.m)

*All semifinal round games commence from Enfield high school

Finals

Thursday, March 3 at 7 p.m. (Enfield high school)