By Michael Letendre
GLASTONBURY – Against CCC power Glastonbury on Tuesday night, the Bristol Eastern boys basketball team put together a very good first half of play – snaring a one-point edge by the halftime break.
But Eastern simply couldn’t turn defense into offense over second half play, notching just 13 points over the final two quarters as the Guardians zipped up a 57-39 win in Glastonbury to move to 8-3 overall on the season.
The Lancers (6-3) came out firing over the first 16 minutes of the contest, draining 12-of-22 field goals to secure a 26-24 lead at the break.
But Eastern shot 19-percent the rest of the way to eventually fall out of contention.
“Over time, they just wore us out,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray. “And I think not making any shots in the second half just became really difficult. I don’t think the score was indicative of the game. We pressed at the end. Obviously, the lead ballooned at the end of the game but to be quite honest, there were a lot of empty possessions.”
This game was for the taking as the Guardians just led it by five (35-30) late in the third tilt.
But a 22-9 game ending run by Glastonbury foiled any kind of Eastern comeback bid.
“I looked up at the scoreboard, you always say ‘hey defensively, what can I do?’ That was pure offense,” said Ray. “That was not being able to put the ball in the basket. A lot of balls went in and out, we missed some free throws. We just couldn’t stop the run.”
Adam Burns led all scorers with 19 points, Connor O’Leary added 14 while David Smith canned 13 as Glastonbury’s offense was able to get multiple hoops from various sources.
On the offensive glass, the Guardians outrebounded the Lancers 17-4.
“Credit Glastonbury. We were very much one and done,” said Ray. “We couldn’t get the ball on a second chance. We had very few second chances.”
Eastern generated offense early as Ben D’Amato splashed in a 3 to open the game as six lead changes and five ties highlighted a back-and-forth first half of action.
Brayden Dauphinais (13 points) later hit four straight shots and when Jordan Chisholm (six points, two rebounds) added two field goals, Eastern trailed just 16-15 through one period.
In the second period, Zaveyn Tate (13 points, three blocks) attacked the hoop with zest, scoring seven points in the stanza, and when Chisholm drained a long jumper to end the half, Eastern was ahead on the scoreboard by two (26-24).
Eastern’s offense went silent over third period play as Tate scored four points, the Kingstreeters missed all of its free throw attempts and after three completed frames, the Guardians scooped up a 37-30 cushion with the visitors hanging around.
“I knew they’d be a lot of one on one’s out there and when you’re in those one-on-one opportunities, you’ve got to make plays,” said Ray. “I thought [Tate] was able to give us some pressure release, gave us some baskets when we needed them. It was just not enough. Eventually what’s going to happen is [opponents] are going to double inside, the ball gets thrown out and someone’s got to make a basket.”
“We just couldn’t make one.”
Glastonbury’s Gage Haines and Smith opened up the fourth with high-percentage hoops, giving the home team a double-figure edge (41-30) with 6:39 to play.
Eastern could never get it back to single digits for the remainder of the showdown.
“After a while, Glastonbury started closing off any gaps that we had to create and they jacked it up a little bit,” said Ray. “I think at the beginning of the game, they were feeling us out. I think in the second half, they made some good adjustments.”
Late in the fray, Eastern’s Cheniel Serrano added a couple free throws while Dauphinais dropped in a 3 and two final charity tosses as the Lancers ended up on the wrong side of a 57-39 decision on the road to fall to 6-3 with a home game against Rocky Hill on tap for Friday in Bristol (6:45 p.m.).
“They’re an 8-3 team for a reason,” said Ray of Glastonbury. “They’re very solid. They’re strong, they’re big, they’re physical. We’ve just got to play better. If we want to compete in this league at this level, we’re going to have to play a little more aggressive on offense and try to get some shots.”
Bristol Eastern Boys Basketball – CCC Interdivisional Contest
GLASTONBURY 57, BRISTOL EASTERN 39
from Glastonbury High School
Bristol Eastern (6-3) 15 11 4 9 – 39
Glastonbury (8-3) 16 8 13 20 – 58
BRISTOL EASTERN (39): Naseem Walker 0 0 0, Nate Fries 0 0 0, Jordan Chisholm 3 0 6, Lukas Sward 1 0 2, Ben D’Amato 1 0 3, Zaveyn Tate 6 1 13, Brayden Dauphinais 5 2 13, Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum 0 0 0, Brady Bell 0 0 0, Cheniel Serrano 0 2 2. Totals: 16 5 39.
GLASTONBURY (58): David Smith 4 5 13, Connor O’Leary 5 4 14, Brendan Hutt 0 0 0, Adam Molusis 2 1 7, Jordyn Sams 0 0 0, Adam Burns 9 0 19, Gage Haines 2 0 4. Totals: 22 10 57.
Three-point goals: D’Amato (BE), Dauphinais (BE), Molusis (G) 2, Burns (G).
Records: Glastonbury 8-3 overall; Bristol Eastern 6-3.
