By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The Bristol Central boys basketball team is on a hot streak against its counterparts across town against Bristol Eastern.
Central (1-2) has won six straight – 10 out of 11 overall – against Eastern (1-1) and is a seventh straight victory out of the question?
It’s certainly not but the Rams are a little lean on varsity experience this year and the lights will be at their brightest come Tuesday night.
Here’s the deal as the Rams tangle with the Lancers at the Bristol Central Holiday Classic:
Players to Watch – Bristol Central
Jayeson VanBeveren (sr, forward/center), Carmelo Thompson (so, guard), Mike McMahon (jr, guard), Tre Blair (sr, guard), Mike Allan (sr, guard), Jonmanuel Gomez (sr, forward), Mason Stokes (sr, guard), Joey Pikiell (so, guard), Aiden Lopez (so, guard).
Spotlight on Bristol Eastern: Jayeson VanBeveren
This is a guy who just hasn’t just taken a leadership role on this squad in 2022-23, but produced substantially on the court as well.
To start the year, VanBeveren is averaging 15.0 points and 15.7 rebounds-per-game – clearly making the most of his minutes.
He dropped in a career-high 21 points against Middletown last Thursday while foiling Tolland for 14 as the Rams roped up a 58-45 victory against the latter.
If he’s rebounding like Dennis Rodman, VanBeveren is tough to top.
Then he adds a slick three-pointer – or two, or three – a game and that offense makes the 6-foot-5 forward/center a true threat anywhere on the court.
And Central head coach Tim Barrette will also go to the big man inside for timely hoops and high-percentage buckets.
Eastern must box out and then defend VanBeveren from deep to prevent getting burned by his long-range antics.
He could be the reason while Central hangs a loss on the Kingstreeters on Tuesday night.
If Barrette uses a four-guard line-up, old hands Mason Stokes and Tre Blair will also provide a spark with that group.
And we all saw what Blair could do with a football on Thanksgiving after he made his explosive moves.
Under-the-radar Guy: Mikey McMahon
You know about the basketball blood. It oozes in the McMahon family.
And it’s the three-point shooting that the junior brings to the hardwood each and every game.
He canned three threes against Tolland (11 points overall) and then hit some against Middletown as his shooting game is one of Central’s featured attractions.
Over the last few seasons, the 3-point shooting wasn’t used as much at Central then at other times over the course of basketball at Central (that 7-foot-2 center helped to limit that shot over the past four seasons).
McMahon is a slick shooter, as is sophomore Joey Pikiell and senior defensive standout Mike Allen, as well as this guy…
Watch out for: Carmelo Thompson
When the sophomore slickster is hitting shots, putting the ball into the hoop with a little flair, those buckets are coming from inside-out.
He shows flashes of tremendous ability as he can connect in the paint while his 3-point shooting is ever improving.
Thompson will miss his share of shots but he’s a good enough rebounder to have half a chance to put back his own miss.
He knows where he wants to go on the floor and showed plenty of flash in his 15-point, eight-rebound performance at Tolland.
That victory over the Eagles was just a glimpse of what he is going to become over the next three seasons at Central.
Bottom Line: Central enjoys home court.
Will home court be enough for the Rams to pull this game out?
It will help but how many of those guys played a ton of action against Eastern on the varsity level?
Take away VanBeveren and it’s only been scraps of garbage time for the rest of that crew.
But this Central team is young, eager and wants to prove it can win the big game.
That squad is home at the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium and that’s a big deal.
With Donovan Clingan and a talented senior class graduated from the program, who is going to step up to keep the Rams’ winning streak going against the Lancers?
It could be anyone’s game on Tuesday night between the two squads.
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