By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – For the first time since the 2018-19 campaign, the boys basketball team from Bristol Eastern was able to topple rival Bristol Central – breaking a six-game losing streak against the Rams with its 49-44 triumph at the BC Holiday Classic on Tuesday night.
Eastern (2-1) and Central (1-3) waged an entertaining 32-minute battle of hardcourt warfare but the Lancers had to survive all the elements to snare the huge win.
Central’s Carmelo Thompson (game-high 17 points) was tremendous while Jayeson VanBeveren (eight points) helped keep their team in the fray in what turned into a back-and-forth showdown.
But Thompson was slowed by Eastern’s defense and sophomore Brady Bell, who used his size and length, to keep the talented scorer in check.
And then Zaveyn Tate bodied up VanBeveren effectively enough to stop his lethal inside-outside shooting attack.
“We had to change our match-ups,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray. “Brady Bell and Zaveyn, two sophomores go in. Brady has played pretty much no minutes on [the] varsity [level]. We do what we have to do on any given night.”
Offensively, balance was the key for Eastern.
Brayden Dauphinais and Lukas Sward each tallied 14 points, Tate hit for 10, Ben D’Amato added five early while Nate Fries and Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum (four rebounds) each added a bucket over the victorious effort.
It was Eastern’s first win over Central since Feb. 18, 2019.
“It was great,” said Dauphinais about the win. “It’s nice to knock off [Central’s] four-year streak and get the young guys some experience in this game against Central.”
Central went a second-half stretch of 10:45 with just five points – carrying over from the middle of the third period until the late stages of the fourth – in which the Lancers’ defense coupled with a forced chances by the Rams foiled the home team.
Over that time, Sward swept into the paint for some big baskets as Eastern created a 43-36 cushion with 2:44 left to play.
“We had a stretch late in the third period. We had five bad possessions in a row,” said Central coach Tim Barrette. “We let Sward get to his right hand, finish with contact. And offensively, we turned the ball over four straight times. If we just ran our offense, we do a good job.”
“We got Joey Pikiell the three-pointer and then five straight possessions, you force it.”
But this city series showdown was certainly up for grabs as 11 lead changes and seven ties proved that either team could have nabbed the victory in the end.
Ironically, Eastern’s sophomore duo gave its squad the lead for good when Bell found Tate for a lay-up with 5:12 remaining – giving the Kingstreeters a 38-36 edge.
It was back-and-forth early as well but at the tail end of the first quarter, Thompson canned back-to-back hoops as he dropped in a sweet fallaway shot and then flipped in a hoop in the lane to propel Central to a 14-9 push with 1:13 left in the stanza.
“Melo shoots a lot of those shots where you’re like ‘ooh’ and then he makes it,” said Barrette. “He makes a lot of tough shots.”
But Central, leading 14-11 through one, just couldn’t shake the visitors and midway through the second, Dauphinais drained back-to-back 3s for the Lancers and with 3:50 left before the break, Eastern led it 21-18.
The Rams ended the half on a 7-2 burst, capped by layups from Mike Allan and Thompson, as the home team nabbed a 25-23 lead going into the half.
Thompson had things rolling early in the third as a floater and a jumper, combined with his steal and lay-up with 4:18 left in the third period, gave the Rams a 31-30 lead with 4:18 showing on the clock.
Soon after, Ray went to Bell on Thompson and Central’s offensive went into a rut.
“Brady did a great job on Melo,” said Ray. “I think his length bothered him enough [and] he was able to use a little bit more of his athleticism, not to say the other guys at the beginning weren’t. It was just a bad match-up for us and we were able to use [Bell] in those big situations.”
Sward added a couple buckets late in the third quarter but a dagger three by Joey Pikiell (six points) with 33 seconds to go gave the Rams a 34-32 lead entering the final eight minutes of play
Eastern then went on an 11-2 run over a near six-minute stint, which included two hoops from Lukas and a sweet up-and-under basket by Bell, as Eastern captured a 43-36 push with 2:44 left.
“I think it was really Lukas handling the ball, getting some big baskets,” said Ray of Eastern’s 11-2 fourth period run.
Thompson scored three points late and did his best to keep his squad in the game though his shots weren’t falling in.
“In the fourth, Thompson is trying to make something happen,” said Barrette. “But [there were] too many turnovers in the second half out of him. He knew it. But he did play a whale of a game especially in the first half.”
“Offensively, he carried us for sure.”
But Central nearly got back in it after a VanBeveren lay-up chopped the deficit to 43-38 with 1:32 remaining.
The Rams then turned to its full court press, eventually fouling to force the Lancers to the line for a few 1-and-1 one situations.
Tate missed on his first 1-and-1 opportunity and when Thompson kicked in a lay-up seconds later, it was a one-possession game (43-40) with 1:18 remaining.
Eastern then played a little keep away to burn some clock but the ball eventually got back to Tate who was quickly fouled.
He then calmed drained the two biggest free throws of his scholastic career to stretch the deficit out to 45-40 with 40 seconds left.
“I don’t think I see him as a young kid anymore,” said Ray of Tate. “He’s out there getting more and more confidence, more minutes.”
On the next possession, there was a scrum for the ball and it somehow found the slick shooting Pikiell who canned a blistering three in front of the Central bench to make it 45-43 with 28.4 seconds left in regulation.
From there, Dauphinais was fouled twice, hitting all four of his free throws with his last making it 49-44 with 8.5 seconds left.
“Dauphinais really gave us that breathing room that we needed,” said Ray.
Central did not connect late and at the final buzzer, the Lancers came away from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium with a huge five-point victory to move to 2-1 overall.
“I’m just glad we got the win,” said Dauphinais. “It doesn’t matter about my performance just as long as the team won.”
Eastern plays against Simsbury on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the BC Holiday Classic championship game.
Bristol Central Holiday Classic, Boys Basketball – Bristol Central vs. Bristol Eastern
BRISTOL EASTERN 49, BRISTOL CENTRAL 44
from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium, Bristol
Bristol Eastern (2-1) 11 12 9 17 – 49
Bristol Central (1-3) 14 11 9 10 – 44
BRISTOL EASTERN (49): Naseem Walker 0 0 0, Nate Fries 1 0 2, Jordan Chisholm 0 0 0, Lukas Sward 6 2 14, Dante DePass 0 0 0, Ben D’Amato 2 0 5, Zaveyn Tate 4 2 10, Brayden Dauphinais 3 6 14, Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum 1 0 2, Brady Bell 1 0 2. Totals: 18 10 49.
BRISTOL CENTRAL (44): Mikey McMahon 1 0 3, Mike Allen 3 0 6, Tre Blair 1 0 2, Carmelo Thompson 8 0 17, Joey Pikiell 2 0 6, Mason Stokes 0 0 0, Aiden Lopez 0 0 0, Jayeson VanBeveren 3 1 8, Jonmanuel Gomez 0 2 2. Totals: 18 4 44.
Three-point goals: Dauphinais (BE) 2, D’Amato (BE), McMahon (BC), Pikiell (BC) 2, VanBeveren (BC).
Records: Bristol Eastern 2-1 overall; Bristol Central 1-3.
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