By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The Bristol Central boys basketball did it all last season, securing its second ever state championship while going 28-0 overall and 43-0 over the past two campaigns.
The Rams were a tremendous program behind five strong seniors but things are going to be a bit different in 2022-23.
But don’t sleep on this squad, especially in CCC South play, because veteran coach Tim Barrette is going to pull out all the tricks.
And this team didn’t duck any challengers this season as the program begins play with its 43-game winning streak on the line.
Here’s a look at the CIAC Boys Basketball Division II defending champs from Bristol Central:
BRISTOL CENTRAL BOYS BASKETBALL
Head Coach: Tim Barrette (16th season)
Overall Record: In 15 seasons at Central, Barrette carries an all-time record of 183-140.
Last Season’s Record: 28-0 overall (Division II Champions, CCC Tournament Champs, CCC South title winners).
Subtractions: Donovan Clingan (center, All-State, CCC South All-Conference), Damion Glasper (guard, CCC South All-conference), Victor Rosa (guard), Carson Rivoira (forward, CCC South All-Conference), Steve Alseph (guard, CCC South All-Conference), Zach Vanasse (guard), Aaron Brown (guard) and Jelani Walton (forward).
2022-23 Roster: Tre Blair (sr, guard), Mike Allan (sr, guard), Jonmanuel Gomez (sr, forward), Mason Stokes (sr, guard), Jameson VanBeveren (sr, forward/center), Carmelo Thompson (so, guard), Mike McMahon (jr, guard), Jaysun Dominguez (jr, guard), Joey Pikiell (so, guard), Aiden Lopez (so, guard), Harry Ross (jr, forward/center), Julius Powell (sr, center, injured).
Strengths: This group was able to practice against the state champs all season long.
Weaknesses: Inexperienced, depth, size with Powell out.
Why Central will be successful: The JV team from last year was able to square off against the CIAC Division II title team every day in practice. That experience could only help the current crew.
Relevant Fact: The Rams bring in a 43-game winning streak to start the season. Only a couple other programs in America carry a longer streak into this winter campaign.
Irrelevant Fact: In terms of points from last season, who comes back at the highest scorer from 2021-22? It’s Jayson VanBeveren who averaged 1.7 points-per-game. Mason Stokes pumped in 32 total points while Tre Blair added 16 as most of the squad’s scoring from last season’s championship team graduated.
Overview: This group won’t be the five senior crew Barrette was able to guide to the state tournament and the Division II championship last season but there’s talent up and down this season’s lineup that just needs a little experience.
“Right now, I’ve started sophomore, sophomore, junior, senior [and] senior,” said Barrette of the preseason.”
With the graduation of the entire starting line-up, it’s a brand new five for Barrette this season and that might mean some regular season lumps before the playoffs commence.
“We don’t have a guy on the roster whose ever started a varsity game,” said Barrette. “We lost 97-percent of our points and 96-percent of our minutes and if you count [the injured] Julius [Powell], we lost more than that.”
Central will have some luck when it comes to battling the teams of the CCC South as the program hopes to be on the plus-side of contests against Plainville, Lewis Mills and rival Bristol Eastern.
And despite Central being a brand new five on the court, Barrette wants to repeat as the CCC South champions.
“My goal is still to win the conference,” said Barrette.
The challenges will truly come against some of the elite squads in the CCC as Barrette’s team will once again face just about every heavy hitter.
“I expect we’ll get better throughout the year,” said Barrette. “It is what it is. You can’t substitute for experience. That was one of my greatest luxuries over the last couple of years. It was just not Donovan. It was the total varsity experience between Victor and Damion and Carson and Steve. Those guys had all started. Last year, it was the complete opposite [of this season]. I had five guys that started 20-plus games.”
“You can’t replace that but I have thoroughly enjoyed the first ten days of practice. And I mean that. The effort has been very, very good.
Central will have pockets of ability here and there but will miss the services of Powell (26 games played in 2021-22, 2.4 points-per-game) as the 6-foot-8 giant – the sixth leader scorer from last season – was injured during football season.
Powell was going to be counted on for somewhere around 10 points and 10 rebounds this season and his loss, including his on-court leadership, will be hard to replace.
“Julius had the most experience coming back,” said Barrette. “It’s a loss for our team but it’s a loss for our leadership. Julius has been at practice helping out as much as he can with some the inexperience that we have at the forward position but no kid deserves more of an opportunity after sitting behind Donovan for three years. He put in a ton of work this offseason, his body was in great shape and a freak injury in a football game has cost him his senior year.”
“No one deserved it more than Julius. But it’s great having him around in any capacity we need.”
Senior guard Tre Blair is a jack-of-all-trades guard who led the football in rushing yards (1,083) but is also dealing with an injury of his own and did not play in the preseason.
He was injured for a portion of last year’s title run in basketball but he’s quick, he’ll play defense, put the ball in the hole and is a very coachable athlete.
At the very least, opponents are going to have fits chasing him up and down the hardwood this year.
Fellow guard Mason Stokes (2.0 ppg) saw action in 18 games last season, getting a couple critical minutes here and there when the senior starting cast was in foul trouble and could have an expanded role if Barrette decides to employ a four guard line-up.
Two sophomores have already gotten some heavy minutes in the preseason as Aiden Lopez, who was starting in the preseason, and Joey Pikiell have hit the court running.
Ditto with junior Mike McMahon – another starter at guard – whose family oozes a high basketball IQ.
“They shoot the ball very well,” said Barrette of the Pikiell/McMahon duo. “They’re going to add something that we didn’t have last year. We obviously scored and beat people off the glass a ton last year. And minus Damion, we didn’t have much of an outside threat. Those guys definitely allow us to stretch the floor a little bit. They struggle to create their own some days but when they’re left open, they can be pretty deadly if they get on a hot streak.”
Big man Jayson VanBeveren, who is slated to start, is an experienced hand that played in all but two games last season.
VanBeveren will hit the boards, can a three-pointer or two along the way (ask the Windsor coach about those three-point bombs…) and will provide Central some badly needed size.
And Barrette will lean on VanBeveren, along with Blair, for senior leadership.
“I put a lot of pressure on Jayson,” said Barrette of VanBeveren. “He has a little bit of varsity experience. Now with the Julius Powell injury, he has to play lights out for us to compete especially with our schedule.”
The guy who should see some major court time will be sophomore shooting guard Carmelo Thompson – also on the docket to start games for the Rams.
Thompson might be the future of the program and can drill shots from range.
He played in just five games last year, a small sample space, but he showed what he could do when given the ball.
“Carmelo is our best natural basketball player even as a sophomore,” said Barrette of Thompson. “There’s going to be some growing pains. There’s going to be times where he tries to do too much, dribbles a little bit too much but that’s a sophomore for you. Those are mistakes we have to live with. As long as he plays as hard as he can on the defensive end, there’s going to be some times when you look out there and he does things you can’t believe because he has that much talent.”
“I think his sophomore year is a great transition year. One thing I’ve been focusing on him is with the fundamental stuff. He has the natural ability. We just have to tie in the fundamentals to go with his athleticism and natural basketball skill.”
Others that will factor into the varsity mix includes junior guard Jaysun Dominguez, senior forward Jonmanuel Gomez and junior forward/center Harry Ross.
Central is going to show some grit, a little gumption this season as Barrette is certainly positive on the total abilities of this group.
“We’re learning things and absorbing things like sponges,” said Barrette. “But it’s hard to simulate what we’re going to see especially with our schedule we have in practice with guys on a scout team who’ve never started a varsity game.”
Barrette likes this group, saying so last season when talking about some of the underclassmen, and is ready for the challenge of a new year.
“It genuinely seems like these guys really like to be around each other which is nice to coach,” said Barrette. “With that being said, it’s hard to have many egos right now when no one’s played a varsity game. You can check the egos at the door because no one has done anything at the varsity level.”
