By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – Has there been a bigger game between the Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern girls basketball programs in recent memory?
The Rams are already playoff bound, winning six straight contests coming into this past weekend.
This has been the best Central team since Ginny Torreso was coaching the squad to open the 21st century.
Brooke Watson, Kaley Laird, Arianna Rivera, Callie Lodovico, Leilani Jackson-Mills, Nicole Riemer and the rest of the crew from Central have been tremendous over the month of January, playing a great brand of ball since winning its own holiday tournament over the Christmas break.
Eastern has also been on a roll as of late, winning three of its past four games while getting back to .500 over an extremely tough slate of games.
Taigan Parent is a nifty senior with extreme range while first year player Autumn Udoh has mixed her skills tremendously along with veterans Vanessa Drury, Lauren Ayotte and Leah Roy among others.
You know all the details between the rivals and there aren’t any new secrets to divulge.
Here’s the deal between the two programs as Central and Eastern clash for the first time in 2023:
Bristol Central at Bristol Eastern, CCC South showdown
Where: Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium – from the campus of BEHS
When: Monday, 6:30 p.m.
The storylines to consider: Eastern coach Tony Floyd is one victory away from 600.
Will the Lancers’ program deliver that milestone victory to its coach on Monday night?
On the flip side, can the program from Central earn its second win over Eastern in three tries?
Can the Rams capture its first victory on the Eastern campus since the early 2000s?
Bristol Central (8-3 overall) – Probable Line-up:
*Brooke Watson (junior), Forward
*Arianna Rivera (junior), Guard
*Leilani Jackson-Mills (sophomore), Forward
*Kaley Laird (senior), Guard
*Callie Lodovico (sophomore), Guard
*Nicole Riemer (freshman), Forward
*Molly McMahon (freshman), Guard
*Julia Pikiell (freshman), Guard
Bristol Eastern (5-5 overall) – Probable Line-up:
*Taigan Parent (senior), Guard
*Autumn Udoh (freshman), Forward/Central
*Vanessa Drury (junior), Guard
*Lauren Ayotte (junior), Forward
*Leah Roy (sophomore), Guard/Forward
*Amanda Noel (sophomore), Forward
*Emily Piendak (senior), Forward
Can the Rams finally earn a win on Eastern’s court? It’s been a long while since the Rams won at BEHS.
But this squad from Central is a fairly confident group as any one of a number of players can lead the team in scoring.
Brook Watson was a CCC South All-Conference selection from last season and does a little of everything well from the program.
She can drop in 10 points on any given night and plays outstanding defense.
Watson is also one of the squad’s best shooters from deep.
Speaking of defense, senior Kaley Laird can be tasked to stop any opposing scorer.
Will Laird be assigned to slow down Eastern shooting sensation Taigan Parent? It would be an interesting match-up.
And she’ll pop in a shot or two to keep the defense honest.
Callie Lodovico is a tough guard who knows where the ball needs to go, and the second-year guard already has a ton of experience on the hardwood.
She played in every game last season and can hit shots from downtown.
Junior Arianna Rivera is an all-conference talent and one of the leading scorers and defenders on Central’s squad.
Rivera seemingly gets her mitts on several loose balls and heads to the hoop with zest.
Sophomore Leilani Jackson-Mills has been a standout this season as the forward is certainly offensively minded.
A strong finisher at the hoop, she can also drop in shots from the outside and is one of the many reasons why the Rams have eight wins in their till this year.
And then there’s freshman forward/center Nicole Riemer who is a handful in the paint.
Her low-post game is ever-improving and once she truly gets immersed in the scholastic game, Riemer has the ability to be one of the best in the city.
Contributions will also come by freshmen Molly McMahon and Julia Pikiell.
Over the years, the Rams – under the guidance of long-time head coach Steve Gaudet – have come out with a pretty good game plan against the Lancers from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium.
However, the home team has always found a way to snatch away the victory over the Rams.
Central has all the tools to pull this game out against Eastern but it’s going to be a battle from start to finish.
Will Eastern continue the streak from home? The Lancers are going to be hungry to get its coach his 600th victory and Eastern has the firepower to generate that win.
It begins with senior guard Taigan Parent (13.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists-per-game) as she can simply shoot the ball from everywhere.
She’s deadly when setting her feet and against Platt last week, Parent drained seven threes on her way to a career-high 33 points.
Parent gets the job done defensively as well, snaring 2.1 steals-per-game, and is an 80-plus percent shooter from the charity stripe.
Autumn Udoh (11.0 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.6 steals-per-game) has been the biggest surprise in town as the first-year front court player has shown amazing chemistry with her teammates.
She’s played in every game, starting five, and scooped in 11-plus rebounds in five games to date.
And if you bring the ball in the paint, or try to shoot over her from deep, Udoh can and will block shots from every angle.
Junior guard Vanessa Drury (8.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists) is the best rebounding guard on the team and does a good job finding the open man for a bucket.
She is always looking for steals in the passing lane (3.1 per) and can hit open 3s when they are presented.
Junior forward Lauren Ayotte and sophomore Leah Roy have gotten the job done in the front court and make a good rebounding duo.
Ayotte isn’t a volume shooter but hits a decent percentage while her 3.0 points and 3.7 rebounds-per-game is an excellent contribution to the team.
She’s started all 10 games as has Roy who is truly a jack of all trades.
Roy is the program’s second leading rebounder (6.1) from the small forward position while also contributing 2.1 assists and 1.3 steals-per-game.
And Roy never gives up on a play.
Sophomore Amanda Noel (1.8 points, 2.8 rebounds) has been the first forward off the pine for the Kingstreeters this season and already has put together some big moments on the hardwood.
She’s done a good job filling out the Eastern rotation along with senior Emily Piendak, sophomore Tavia Swain and freshman Jayle Evins-Mosley who has been a productive rebounder in limited minutes.
Can the Lancers earn victory number six while getting Coach Floyd his 600th win on Monday?
It’s a can’t miss event and should be an excellent basketball showdown between two good squads in town.
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