By Michael Letendre
The time for talk will be over on Saturday night as the top ranked Bristol Central boys basketball team goes for its second state title — squaring off against No. 2 Northwest Catholic for all the marbles at 8:15 p.m. from the Mohegan Sun Arena.
This showdown is going to be of epic proportions and worth the ride down to Uncasville.
And what do you do to slow down the two-time Gatorade Connecticut Player of the year Donovan Clingan (30.4 points, 18.4 rebounds, 6.1 blocks, and 3.1 assists-per-game)?
Prayer won’t work here.
If you slow the contest down, Central knows how to play the game — using a stall recently to close out heated bouts.
If you induce a faster pace, the Rams can pump in 90 points which isn’t advisable either.
“We’ve won close games that are slow and we’ve won games that are 85-70 at the other end,” said Central coach Tim Barrette. “We can play both styles of basketball.”
And double or triple teaming Clingan can only work for so long.
Because if the likes of Damion Glasper, Carson Rivoira, Steve Alseph and Victor Rosa start to hit shots for Central — and things open up offensively — forget about it.
When this squad is getting contributions from all angles, as the Rams normally do, Northwest will be in trouble once again like it was against Central in the finals of the CCC Tournament — a 63-56 loss back on March 3.
On the flip side, slowing down Matt Curtis, one of the craftiest shooters in the state, isn’t going to be easy.
Curtis can finish from outside and attack the rim with zest from within.
Don’t forget, when Clingan was in foul trouble in that match-up earlier in the season, Curtis attacked the rim despite a certain 7-foot-2 center hanging around the paint.
On the front line, the Lions can go to senior Hayden Abdullah (6-foot-8), sophomore London Jemison (6-foot-7) while freshman Badara Diakite (6-foot-9) is the best big man in the state for his class.
Other contributors include Jehyvic Spencer (guard, 6-foot-2) and Gianni Mirabello (guard, 5-foot-7).
But that grouping couldn’t get the job done against a Central team that never used a sub in the game.
There could be a repeat of that exact scenario if Central doesn’t start hacking and whacking away.
However, Barrette knows that this time around, Central might see a bit of a different Northwest squad in terms of offense and defense.
“We’ve got to get ready for John Mirabello and Northwest,” said Barrette. “I know he’s going to throw something different at us this time. He’s a great coach. He has 600 wins for a reason.”
And if Northwest gets stuck in single coverage against Clingan, the outcome will become bleak fast.
In that March 3 bout, Clingan was a beast behind 45 points, 28 rebounds, and half-a-dozen blocked shots.
But after that 54-52 overtime victory against Wilton, Clingan and company are more than ready.
“I feel good but I don’t feel good enough,” said Clingan after the win against Wilton. “I’ll feel good once we go 28-0 on Saturday. I can’t wait.”
This Central team is never satisfied and simply never settles for anything than a victory.
And, the Rams have all the tools to snare its second championship banner with a victory over the Lions.
“We’ll be ready to go,” said Barrette. “We’re just looking forward to the opportunity to play at Mohegan Sun like we had promised our guys. We started there. We want to end there.”
“We have a shot this weekend to win a state title.”
