By Michael Letendre 

Here is the breakdown of the title game tonight as Bristol Central and Northwest Catholic square off against each other one more time.

CIAC DIVISION II BOYS FINAL – No. 1 Bristol Central (27-0) vs. No. 2 Northwest Catholic (25-2)

When: 8:15 p.m.

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville

Season Record: Central is 1-0 against NWC. Back on March 3, Central defeated Northwest 63-56 from Enfield high school. The victory propelled the Rams to its second consecutive CCC Tournament Championship.

All-Time Records: The squads are tied 3-3 as the Rams are on a two-game winning streak against the Lions. This is the rubber match between the programs. Central is on a two-game winning streak against NWC.

Title Records: Bristol is 1-1 in championship tilts, beating St. Joseph (66-65) in 1990 while falling in the Class L showcase to Warren Harding in 1987 (69-49). On the flip side, this is the 12th championship showdown for NWC. The Lions are 6-5 all-time in the title game, last winning it all in 2003 (73-71 in overtime versus Wilbur Cross). 

Bristol Central’s Road to Uncasville: Bye, defeated Amistad 65-38; defeated Waterford 70-48; defeated Wilton 54-52 (OT).

Northwest Catholic’s Road to Uncasville: Bye; def. Greenwich 72-45; def. Crosby 101-63; def. Conard 62-35

Coaches: We all know Tim Barrette, the winningest coach in BCHS boys history (182 wins, 140 losses) — recently passing Ed Phelan for the record at Central. On the flip side, John Mirabello is a tremendous coach and mentor for the Lions’ outstanding program. He’s won over 600 games and is also the winningest coach for the team in West Hartford.

Players to Watch: Bristol Central — Donovan Clingan (Center, 30.4 points-per-game); Damion Glasper (Guard, 10.9 ppg, 34 three-pointers); Carson Rivoira (Forward, 7.9 ppg); Victor Rosa (Guard, 4.9 ppg); Steve Alseph (Guard, 6.3 ppg, 17 3s). Those five players are all seniors for the program and have started all 27 games.

Other Central Players to Watch: Julius Powell (Jr, Center, 2.4 ppg); Jayson VanBeveran (Jr, Forward/Center, 1.8 ppg); Aaron Brown (sr, Guard, 1.4 ppg); Jelani Walton (Sr, Forward, 1.7 ppg); Zach Vanasse (Sr, Guard, 1.3 ppg); Mason Stokes (Jr, 1.8 ppg). 

Players to Watch: Northwest Catholic — Matt Curtis (Sr, Guard); Hayden Abdullah (Sr, 6-foot-8); London Jemison (So, 6-foot-7); Badara Diakite (Fr, 6-foot-9); Jehyvic Spencer (Sr, guard, 6-foot-2); Gianni Mirabello (So, guard, 5-foot-7).

Question for Northwest: Will the nerves get to Northwest?

Question for Bristol Central: Can Central’s core of five-seniors strong end the season at 28-0, winning the school’s second ever championship in boys hoop against another elite team?

The other Central victory against NWC: Back on December 19, 2002, D.J. Hernandez jammed in 20 points, Jeff “Big Deli” Salovski hit for 14, while Brandon Dudzinski added six as Central snared a huge 50-49 victory over Northwest at the Doc Hurley Tournament from Weaver High School in Hartford. Chris Bruff scored 16 to lead the Lions. There’s simply too much length for Northwest to stop.

True, the Lions have bodies to throw at Clingan but who is the more battle tested team here?

If Central can make its free throws consistently (that showing at Wilton was not a typical demonstration from the charity stripe) and the Rams’ getting scoring contributions from the outside, Northwest is in for a long night.

Pick a Winner: Go with Central, 67-64. The pressure is on the Lions to steal this one away. It’s Central’s game to lose.