By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – With the Wethersfield boys basketball team refusing to go away against its counterparts from Bristol Eastern in a CCC Interdivisional showdown on Thursday night, the Lancers needed to make a fourth quarter stand.
And the Kingstreeters did exactly that, going on a blazing 18-4 run to capture the lead for good, as Eastern knocked off the pesky Eagles by a 56-46 final from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium in Bristol.
It was the Lancers fourth straight triumph (5-1) while the Eagles fell to 2-4 overall.
Twelve lead changes and nine ties turned the contest into a real barnburner but once the Lancers clamped down defensively over the final eight minutes, Wethersfield ran out of answers.
Eagles point guard Tom Daly (eight points) didn’t tally a single point in the final half and Eastern reserve guard Naseem Walker did a tremendous job stopping the player cold.
And then Eastern flipped those stops into points.
“We turned defense into offense,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray. “Naseem did a great job guarding [Daly]. We were able to get a couple turnovers and some easy looks. It was hard in the half court tonight.
But when the floor was open, we were able get some things going.”
“There were a lot of loose balls that we were able to pick up for baskets.”
In the critical fourth, Eastern’s Brayden Dauphinais dropped in 10 of his game-high 18 points, including two dagger 3s, and his baseline jumper with 4:22 remaining in regulation gave the Lancers the lead for good at 43-41.
“Coach just told me to keep shooting and shooter’s shoot, so I wasn’t going to stop shooting my 3s after not hitting one,” said Dauphinais.
Dauphinais also tallied five rebounds but didn’t do it alone.
Zaveyn Tate (14 points, nine rebounds, four assists) and Lukas Sward (15 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals) shot a combined 9-of-12 from the field as Eastern eventually took charge of the game with its aggressive defensive/offensive attack.
“I thought Lukas did an exceptional job running the show today,” said Ray. “He got us settled when he needed to, and the ball moved when it needed to. Zaveyn got us big baskets in the first half.”
Ben D’Amato, Jordan Chisholm and Donte DePass all chipped in something over the winning effort.
Kobe Chapman (11 points) led the Wethersfield offensive efforts.
Down five points early, Eastern used an 8-0 burst to seize the advantage as Nate Fries (five points, six rebounds) started the jaunt with a 3 and when Sward dropped in a lay-up, the home team held an 8-5 edge with 3:58 left in the first frame.
The game was all tied up at 13-13 through one but Tate scored Eastern’s first five points of the second stanza and when Fries found Dauphinais for a hoop with 2:05 before the half, the Lancers held a 24-20 push.
Wethersfield reserve forward/center Max Prunier (seven points) added two consecutive buckets to tie up the game late before Dauphinais hit an and-1 – propelling Eastern to a 27-24 halftime lead.
“I scouted them. I was very nervous,” said Ray of Wethersfield. “They have guys that can put the ball on the floor. They have guys that can make shots. They have a [quality] big. They go to different lineups. It was kind of like looking in the mirror a little bit.”
“They are just a little bit bigger than us in certain spots, but we were mixing and matching over line-ups pretty good.”
Eastern’s offense stalled over third period action as the squad shot 1-of-7 from the field and notched just six points in the tilt.
A Dauphinais charity toss gave Eastern a one-point edge (32-31) midway through the third but a 3 by Tate Barnett (nine points) and three consecutive points from Prunier propelled Wethersfield to a 37-32 push with 1:14 left to go in the third.
“We had a hard time executing. I think they pushed us off the ball a little bit,” said Ray. “We didn’t stay with the process. We shot kind of quickly. We shot a very low percentage in the first half, and we settled for a lot of 3s. They were good threes but that’s what I think kept it close early.”
However, Eastern was in the mix to open the fourth as Dauphinais drained two straight trifectas for Eastern, Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum (four points, two rebounds) added a slick jumper while baskets by Dauphinais and Sward with 3:44 to play propelled the home team to a 45-41 lead as a tired Wethersfield program was calling for time.
“Once Dauph hit a couple of those threes, the energy started picking up,” said Ray. “Offense creates energy, and you know what, a couple of those [long-range shots] go in and next thing you know, you’re digging in on defense. It was just one or two stops and everything kind of ballooned from there.”
Walker entered the mix with his ball denial as the Eagles went 4:48 between scores.
“Naseem played great,” said Sward of Walker’s defensive efforts. “He had [Daly] locked the whole [fourth quarter]. And it was good momentum for us. We got stops and we got the lead, so it was nice.”
Wethersfield was then forced to foul late as Eastern started hitting free throws with consecutive makes by Tate and Dauphinais leading to a 54-43 cushion with 58.9 seconds to play.
The cushion eventually reached 13 before the Lancers settled on a hard-fought 10-point victory as Eastern continues to roll along the 2022-23 season.
“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing,” said Dauphinais. “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s it.”
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 Central (1-3) 14 11 9 10 – 44
Bristol Eastern (2-1) 11 12 9 17 – 49
WETHERSFIELD (46): AJ Karanian 2 0 5, Tom Daly 3 0 8, Kobe Chapman 4 0 11, Doug Lee 1 0 2, Mikel Llesni 2 0 4, Tate Barnett 4 0 9, Max Prunier 3 1 7. Totals: 19 1 46.
BRISTOL EASTERN (56): Naseem Walker 0 0 0, Nate Fries 2 0 5, Jordan Chisholm 0 0 0, Lukas Sward 4 7 15, Dante DePass 0 0 0, Ben D’Amato 0 0 0, Zaveyn Tate 5 4 14, Brayden Dauphinais 6 4 18, Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum 2 0 4. Totals: 19 15 56.
Three-point goals: Karanian (W), Daly (W) 2, Chapman (W) 3, Barnett (W), Dauphinais (BE) 2, Fries (BE).
Records: Bristol Eastern 5-1 overall; Wethersfield 2-4.
