By Michael Letendre
UNCASVILLE – It was said in the title of this story: Defense wins championships.
It’s a simple statement and a correct one when sizing up the season that the Bristol Central boys basketball team just put together, going 28-0 and winning the top prize in Division II.
And defense was the key to it all.
Over a long and grueling season, the Rams outscored opponents by an average of 25.9 points-per-game.
That’s simply a staggering statistic.
Opponents netted somewhere along the lines of 724 fewer points over those 28 games, putting up just 44.3 points-per-game in offense against Central.
That 7-foot-2 center by the name of Donovan Clingan (30.3 points, 18 rebounds, and a half-dozen blocks-per-game) helped to erase a ton of those offensive chances by opponents.
But the backcourt of Victor Rosa and Steve Alseph – along with Damion Glasper and Carson Rivoira – also smothered opponents to the extreme.
That defensive onslaught led to a 20-point victory over Northwest Catholic last Saturday as Central defeated the squad by a 56-36 to tally to seize the Division II title.
“It’s a lot of hard work by my guys,” said Central coach Tim Barrette. “A lot of hard work to get us here but I’m going to tell you something. Look at that scoreboard. Thirty-six points allowed. That’s a heck of a defensive effort in a state championship game. We did a great job. We made them work for everything tonight.”
And the Lions’ 36 points were the fewest points the squad scored in a game this season.
In fact, several local programs were forced to make that same claim this season after an encounter against Central.
Southington, Bristol Eastern and Lewis Mills all scored fewer than 30 points in a game against the Rams while Springfield Central, a scoring machine, tallied just 44 against Central from Blake Arena in Springfield back on January 14.
Don’t forget that Maloney game when the Spartans only totaled four first-half points over a 68-30 loss.
Four squads lost to BCHS by 44 points or more while Central outscored its four opponents in Division II play by an average of 17.8 points-per-game with three of those teams losing by 20 points or more.
On the flip side, three opponents lost to Central by only single digits which included Springfield Central (53-44), Northwest Catholic (63-56) in the CCC title game back on March 3 and Wilton (54-52) in an overtime gem during Division II semifinal play.
The only other team to force OT against the Rams this season, Wilbur Cross, lost by double-figures in the end (71-59) on February 2 – never scoring over the extra four-minute session.
Offensively, this Central squad had several chances to post 100-plus points but numerous times, that senior crew was subbed out of the game before the start of the fourth frame as Barrette wasn’t looking to embarrass opponents along the way.
That mentality also kept players from needlessly getting injured as well as five senior players managed to start all 28 games.
The Rams posted 80 points or more six times this year which included a season-high 91-point showing against Enfield back on January 25.
In four straight midseason games, against Middletown, Enfield, Hartford Public, and Platt, Central scooped in 335 total points – good for a four-game scoring average of 83.8 points-per-game.
If your squad gave any kind of resistance this past season against the Rams, that just allowed Clingan – and that senior crew – additional time on the court which spelled doom and demise.
Windsor did exactly that in Bristol on February 10 as Clingan knocked the squad down for a school record 51 points – helping to stave off Windsor, 83-67.
After further review, maybe offense wins games too.
However, when butting heads against Central over the past two seasons, it truly didn’t matter as every outcome ended up being the same in the end.
