By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The entire Bristol Eastern boys basketball team was checked in against South Windsor during its CCC Interdivisional tilt on Friday evening.
The crowd was alive at the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium and with chants of ‘defense’ fueling the Kingstreeters, Eastern led from wire to wire, belting the Bobcats by a 60-42 final to earn its tenth victory of the campaign.
It’s the most wins for the Eastern program (10-9) since the 2014-15 campaign, the last time the Lancers went to the playoffs.
South Windsor (5-14) stayed in its 2-3 zone defense the entire night – allowing Eastern to attack from outside-in as Eastern surged in front 10-0 just four minutes into the showdown.
For the game, the Lancers passed the ball like a hot potato, resulting in a season-high 21 assists and several excellent shooting opportunities.
“That’s the biggest thing. Early on in the 2-3 zone, you have to move the ball around a little bit,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray. “Not too many teams zone us, and you see why. We’ve got a lot of answers. The ball can go in, it can go out. We have a lot of shooters. We’ve been working on [penetrating the] zone the last couple days which we really hadn’t had to do because no one really zones us.”
“When opponents do, it’s a nice luxury to have those shooters and also Zaveyn [Tate] really figuring out how to play inside.”
Tate was one of many stars to shine against South Windsor, collecting a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds to go along with two steals.
Brayden Dauphinais played with his usual zest, leading all players with 13 points.
He also chipped in five rebounds and three assists while Jordan Chisholm posted nine points and five assists off the bench.
Nate Fries zipped in six points and collected nine rebounds, Ben D’Amato dropped in two threes for six points while grabbing a career-high two offensive rebounds and three overall while Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum nabbed four points, two rebounds and two assists.
But in Eastern’s passing attack, point guard Lukas Sward deserves a ton of credit.
While his tough drives to the hoop found pay dirt a bunch of times, his assist total nearly saw him scoop up a double double.
He ended the night on 5-of-9 shooting from the field for 12 points while dishing out nine assists to just one turnover.
“He wants to score but we talk [to him] about running the offense, about managing the team” said Ray of Sward. “The ball is in his hands, it’s got to move around. If the opportunity presents itself, then you have to score, [but] you’ve got to be a little unselfish and that’s what he was tonight.”
“In the games that we’re really good, you’ll see high assists from him. In games that we’re not, we’re forcing a lot of things.”
Ethan LaGuardia scored 12 points while Damian Ayala added 11 for the Bobcats.
D’Amato drained both his 3s over Eastern’s 10-0 opening game run and when Sward dropped in back-to-back layups, the home team grabbed a 16-5 edge through one.
To open the second stanza, Sward got the ball to Tate who easily banked in another field goal as Eastern was off and running again.
“[It was] a big transition game,” said Ray. “On the runouts, we were electric. Every time we got a rebound, we just put our foot on the gas. They were trying to pressure us out front and they didn’t get back and you just saw easy hoop after easy hoop. And when see the confidence level go up, it’s easier to play defense and they just kept locking up.”
South Windsor’s Ethan Burke canned a lay-up to drop the deficit to 11 midway through the second but off a three by Chisholm, another Tate lay-in and a Sward free throw with 3:43 to play before intermission, Eastern was in charge at 26-9.
The Kingstreeters led by as many as 19 before settling on a 33-16 push at the half.
Not much changed in the third period and with 4:43 to go, Ayala dropped in a hoop to trim the deficit to 37-22 but the Lancers were about the kick the doors wide open on the Bobcats.
Eastern blistered South Windsor for 17 points over the final 3:17 of the third to make things academic.
Chisholm banged home a baseline 3 and moments later, Eastern notched 12 straight points to put an exclamation mark on the third tilt.
Bynum hit a lay-up, Sward canned a floater, Dauphinais dropped in a hoop, Fries added one along the way, Chisholm added a high-percentage lay-in and finally, it was Bynum time again.
When Dauphinais found Bynum for one last shot to end the third, South Windsor was down big, trailing by thirty points (54-24).
“They’re starting to get a feel,” said Ray. “We took a lot of perimeter shots, but they were there, and we were up. You’ve got to let them fly.”
In the fourth quarter, Dauphinais cashed in a 3 and a lay-up and with 5:40 remaining, the Bobcats were staring up at a 59-28 deficit.
“That’s a pretty good defensive performance,” said Ray. “South Windsor got its points at the end of the fourth quarter. The first three quarters, we weren’t allowing anything and every one of the stops turned into easy offense.”
A Sward charity toss with 4:02 remaining eventually led to massive substitutions.
The grouping of Dante DePass, Brady Bell, Mikey Sherrill and Chase Dauphinee all earned some floor time along with Owen Myers – making his BEHS varsity debut – who got into the fray over the final two minutes of the showdown.
And by the time the final horn sounded, Eastern was back at the pay window over the 22-point victory with Bristol Central on tap this coming Monday for senior night festivities – starring tri-captain Nate Fries.
“We had a nice crowd at home coming off a hard-fought loss” at Southington said Ray. “You always want to see the kids excited in the locker room.”
Bristol Eastern Boys Basketball – CCC Interdivisional Action
BRISTOL EASTERN 60, SOUTH WINDSOR 42
from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium, Bristol
South Windsor (5-14) 5 11 8 18 – 42
Bristol Eastern (10-9) 16 17 21 6 – 60
SOUTH WINDSOR (42): Damian Ayala 5 0 11, Ethan LaGuardia 6 0 12, Colby Carr 0 0 0, Ethan Burke 2 2 6, Brayden Edwards 1 0 3, Joey Bemis 1 0 2, Landon King 1 0 3, Hakim Montgomery 2 0 5. Totals: 18 2 42.
BRISTOL EASTERN (60): Nate Fries 3 0 6, Zaveyn Tate 5 0 10, Brayden Dauphinais 6 0 13, Lukas Sward 5 2 12, Ben D’Amato 2 0 6, Jordan Chisholm 3 1 9 , Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum 2 0 4, Dante DePass 0 0 0, Brady Bell 0 0 0, Owen Myers 0 0 0, Mikey Sherrill 0 0 0, Chase Dauphinee 0 0 0. Totals: 26 3 60.
Three-point goals: Ayala (SW), Edwards (SW), King (SW), Montgomery (SW), Dauphinais (BE), Chisholm (BE) 2, D’Amato (BE) 2.
Records: Bristol Eastern 10-9 overall; South Windsor 5-14.
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