By Michael Letendre
UNCASVILLE – Will the Bristol Central boys basketball team enjoy the kind of ride it just embarked on ever again?
The easy answer is no but the same was probably said thirty-two years ago when the Rams were on top of the basketball world in Class L – spinning St. Joseph by a 66-65 final from the Detrick Gymnasium from the campus of Central Connecticut State University in New Britain for the school’s first championship in hoop.
And then the last two years came and went as Central did not add a loss to its all-time tally, going 43-0 over that incredible stretch.
That’s a credit to the senior core of Victor Rosa, Damion Glasper, Steve Alseph, Zach Vanasse, Aaron Brown, Jelani Walton, Carson Rivoira, and Donovan Clingan.
“These seniors should enjoy the four-year ride they were just on,” said Central coach Tim Barrette.
There simply was no hiding this team and it wasn’t just because of a certain 7-foot-2 giant looming in the paint.
After a 17-5 campaign in 2019-20 and then the 15-0 jaunt last season, Central was going to be the featured team to gobble up so to speak and opponents went up against the Rams in a very hungry fashion.
And Central took every program’s ‘A-game’ on the way to a Division II championship over Northwest Catholic (56-36) from Mohegan Sun Arena.
“We’ve had that target on our back” the entire year said Barrette. “We embraced it and to be honest, my group of guys handled it better than any group of guys I’ve ever seen. They rose to every challenge that’s been put forward.”
All the teams in Connecticut that were undefeated, in and around the playoffs, fell in the end – except Bristol Central.
The top seeded squad in Division I, Naugatuck, was undefeated going into the postseason before getting booted by Wilbur Cross in second round action.
And Kolbe Cathedral, Cromwell, and our friends over in Terryville were also number one seeds – tallying a regular season loss or two along the way – that did not end up in state title championship games.
That’s what makes Central’s run completely remarkable.
The squad hasn’t lost since dropping an 85-48 decision to East Catholic in the second round of the Central Connecticut Conference Tournament at the end of February in 2020.
That’s a perfect ledger ever since that setback against the Eagles – a team Central defeated in 2021 for the CCC title.
“Only one team gets to walk away saying they didn’t lose our last game and we’ve been lucky to do that two years in a row,” said Barrette. “I can’t give these kids enough credit. Forty-three straight wins without getting tripped up, that’s a major accomplishment.”
Adding in that loss to East Catholic when Clingan’s class were sophomores, the squad is an amazing 50-1 since defeating Middletown (70-59) back on February 6, 2020.
That’s almost too unbelievable if you weren’t paying attention to the school on top of the hill in Bristol over the last three years.
“We’ve won forty-three games in a row. It says it’s routine but it’s also a mandate,” said Barrette. “And my seniors take control of practice. They make sure the younger guys are doing what’s supposed to be done. And when you establish that routine and that culture, that’s what’s expected [and] you’re expected to win.”
Here’s one last fact about this unique senior class at Central.
Over the last three seasons, the Rams went 60-5 overall (92.3 winning percentage) during an amazing stretch of games.
Go back to the class of Malcolm Huckaby and his last three seasons, culminating in a Class L title run.
That group went 64-5 (92.7 winning percentage).
The similarities are eerie in scope but also back the notion in the value of what happens when programs, and two outstanding group of players, buy into a system – winning it all in the end.
“I told my guys this year ‘you know how to win,” said Barrette. “These other [teams] that are close with us, they fold in the last four minutes where we excel because we’ve won forty-three straight. Winning is a culture and something that’s learned, and this group did it better than anyone else I’ve ever had.”
