By Michael Letendre 

BRISTOL – Like most of the public scholastic basketball programs in town, the Bristol Eastern boys team celebrated its lone senior before the start of the Bristol Central showdown last Monday.

The Kingstreeters honored Nate Fries before the showdown, getting a fantastic ovation for his efforts over the years.

Fries has been a solid contributor to the Lancers’ 10-10 ledger this season – a run that’s allowed the program to qualify for the state tournament for the first time since 2014-15.  

Fries has been in the starting lineup in every game he’s played, posting averages of 3.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 steal-per-game.

Ray named Fries a tri-captain, joining the junior duo of Brayden Dauphinais and Lukas Sward in that capacity. 

He’s been one of the leaders of the squad all season long and midway through things, Eastern coach Bunty Ray made a change in regard to Fries.

“I thought of making him a captain halfway through, he earned that,” said Ray of Fries. “He earned that leadership role. He gives us a lot of effort out there.” 

His 5.0 rebounds-per-game ranks him second on the squad and the combo guard/forward has been consistent as any player who takes the floor at the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium.

Fries opened the season with a nine point and five rebound performance against Plainville over the Lancers 54-24 blowout.

He had more big games along the way, snaring five points and seven rebounds in Eastern’s big 61-51 win at Berlin on January 2 while draining three 3-pointers for a career-high 11 points and three steals as the Lancers fell at Platt to end the month of January.

Fries nabbed five big rebounds as Eastern held off scrappy 
Plainville on February 10 and then roasted South Windsor for six points and nine rebounds to get Eastern its tenth victory of the year.

Over his final regular season game, in Eastern’s 59-52 setback against Central, Fries scooped up five points and four rebounds – making his 20th start of the campaign.

“I’m glad to start him every night,” said Ray. “When I have to make substitutions or changes, he’s out there. He’s a great team guy and does what he can out there.” 

Fries has made an excellent accounting of himself this season at Bristol Eastern.

The senior was able to lead his squad back to the postseason for the first time since 2015 and in the wide-open Division IV bracket, anything is possible for Fries and the Bristol Eastern boys basketball program.

“Nobody wants to lose on senior night at their last [home] game but I’ll tell you this, he’s got another game,” said Ray. “That hasn’t happened here in a long time, so you’ve got to give him some credit for that too.” 

All TBE readers, supporters and donors                

The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.                

• Non-members will be able to access four (4) articles per week.                
• Free readers and people who have subscribed by email will be able to access four (4) articles per week.                
• Donors and financial supporters will have unlimited access as long as they log in.                

Note: Donors may have to contact TBE if they find they are being limited, since we will need to set up a membership account for you. Email editor@bristoledition.org for instructions. Sorry for any inconvenience. People with financial difficulties may write editor@bristoledition.org to be considered for free access.