By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – When the Bristol Central girls basketball team squared away its 70-7 thrashing of Wolcott Tech on Tuesday night, veteran head coach Steve Gaudet hit a huge milestone over the victorious effort.
With that 63-point win, Gaudet wrangled up his 100th all-time win as the mentor and coach of the program.
Gaudet has seen it all over his 19 years as the coach of the girls basketball team.
And he’s one of the good ones to boot.
Now, it might have taken Gaudet nearly 10 solar years (that’s a very long time in the Star Trek universe) to secure that triple-digit win total but Gaudet has always done things the right way.
He’s faced every curveball a coach could endure: sub-.500 campaigns, critical injuries at the worst possible times, missed opportunities, lack of player depth and simple bad luck.
But Gaudet sticks to his guns, turning to the X’s and O’s that made him a successful basketball and baseball player during his playing days at Bristol Eastern during the 1990’s.
When his head coach in both sports, Mike Giovinazzo, put together a scouting report, Gaudet scanned it like they were nuclear secrets from Russia.
It’s a component he’s brought to his teams at both Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern along the way.
He was a successful pitcher at Assumption College after his times with the Lancers and now, as a teacher and coach at Central, he’s turned out to be a well-rounded individual and a very respected mentor at the school.
And, if you watch him dancing along the sidelines, Gaudet brings energy and enthusiasm to each and every game.
He’s the type of coach that is willing the ball to fall through the hoops for his troops as it teeters on and around the rim.
Gaudet is the one pumping his fists off a successful hoop when the game is on the line and is dishing out high fives to his players.
That energy spurs his girls on the hardwood.
And he coaches the right way as the game on Tuesday demonstrated.
In that blowout victory over an overmatched Wolcott Tech program, Gaudet’s troops could have run up the score.
Was a 100-point showing a possibility against that program?
Of course it was but Gaudet pumped the breaks, got everyone to touch the ball and continue playing the Bristol Central brand of basketball.
Those was no need to embarrass the other program and Gaudet and his players won with grace and pride.
You need people that are positive and Gaudet always strives to make the girls in the program better than they were when they first stepped on the court or on the field.
Gaudet has achieved that at the highest level possible everywhere he’s been.
He’s not going to be around forever but watching him apply his craft is always a treat and the Bristol Central girls basketball program in 2022-23 is truly in a better place than when he first picked it up in 2004.
It’s not easy to win 100 games at the scholastic level, no matter the sport, but Gaudet’s achievement in girls hoops is a tremendous accomplishment.
Congratulations to a class act and continued success for Gaudet and girls basketball program at Bristol Central.
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