By Michael Letendre  

WATERTOWN – After an extremely tough 4-16 campaign last season, the Bristol Eastern boys basketball team knew the 2022-23 season could be a really good one. 

And it just took the squad 11 games this year to make its postseason dreams a reality. 

After the Lancers dropped Watertown (70-44) on Tuesday night, a trip to the CIAC Division IV playoffs is now in order. 

There was a little celebration up and around the Eastern bench as the final ticks came off the clock in Watertown – dropping the Warriors by a 70-44 final on Tuesday – as the Lancers earned a spot in the big dance for the first time since 2015. 

“I just watched how happy they were,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray of his team qualifying for the state tournament. 

The Lancers are an emotional squad, plays with a ton of energy, and works extremely hard for Ray. 

That’s what makes this year’s playoff qualification so satisfying after several missed opportunities from 2021-22. 

There were so many close calls last season which could have gone Eastern’s way that did not in the end. 

Sometimes, you just have to make your own luck which was something the Kingstreeters just couldn’t produce last year. 

A 19-point loss at Plainville to open the season certainly hurt as the Lancers got off to a 1-5 start. 

Simsbury (45-36) came away from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium with a nine-point win, Eastern dropped a one-point decision to Maloney (42-41) in Bristol, lost to Watertown (52-44) at home and then dropped a winnable game at South Windsor (51-42) which kept a possible tournament bid out of the cards by the completion of the season. 

But fast forward a year and the Lancers aren’t just in the playoff mix but have a chance to improve their state tournament positioning over the final nine games. 

“That was a culmination of not just this year but last year too,” said Ray of the win in Watertown. “We took our lumps last year. We worked really hard to get that eighth win this year. It means something.” 

Most of Eastern’s current line-up drew experience from last season and returned not just a year older in 2022-23, but a year better. 

Between juniors Brayden Dauphinais, Lukas Sward, Ben D’Amato, and Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum and senior Nate Fries, that crew upped the level of their play and with the likes of sophomore studs Zaveyn Tate, Jordan Chisholm and Naseem Walker, Eastern’s eight-man rotation is certainly more than solid.  

And that crew improves by the game, playing for each other and the team, as the state tournament looms in the distance. 

Where the Lancers’ Rank 

At 8-3, Eastern is currently in 10th place in the Division IV standings – tied with Suffield but behind the program in power points. 

The current No. 1 seed is Cromwell (10-1) followed by Weaver (8-1), Brookfield (11-2), Griswold (10-2) and Northwestern (10-2). 

A home berth could be in the mix if Eastern can continue its upwards trajectory.  

Meriden Bound 

The Lancers want to keep pace with the Division IV leaders but it won’t be easy as the squad is headed to Meriden (5-7 overall) for two games over a four-game stretch. 

Eastern has that Maloney game circled from last year and, in fact, the squad from Bristol plays the Spartans twice over a seven day stretch with a chance for two-times the revenge. 

“We played a tight game with Maloney last year,” said Ray. “We didn’t forget. That was a tough pill to swallow. So, every year is a little bit different but when you return the same guys and they think they remember, I think that’s a little bit of motivation.”  

Those two games should be classics as Eastern tangles with Maloney this Friday (6:45 p.m.) in Meriden and then again next Thursday from BEHS (6:45 p.m.). 

In between is a CCC South showdown against Platt (9-2) on Monday (6:45 p.m.), also in Meriden. 

The Panthers won against Eastern back on January 12 by a 65-42 final but it was the fewest points Platt scored to date. 

“We held them to their lowest [scoring] total of the year,” said Ray of the Platt showdown. “We need to be able to score with them and I think the kids, again, we haven’t played a team like that [to that point of the season]. Now that we’ve played them, let’s see what the challenge is.”