By Michael Letendre 

SEYMOUR – For a half in its CIAC Division IV first round state tournament showdown against Seymour on Tuesday night, the Bristol Eastern boys basketball team was answering its opponent tit-for-tat.  

A spirited first half saw the squads hit the locker room with a 26-26 stalemate and the Lancers kept it a one-possession game deep into third period play. 

But a 16-2 Wildcats’ run over a pivotal five-minute stretch made it a 16-point game midway through the fourth period to ice it as No. 10 Seymour won its first round clash against pesky Eastern by a 65-43 final from Seymour Middle School. 

The Wildcats improved to 17-6 overall while the Lancers ended their best campaign since 2014-15 with a 10-11 record. 

Seymour moves on to play against No. 7 Brookfield in second round action, a 74-60 winner over No. 26 Montville, on Thursday. 

For the winners, Indrit Peraj dropped in a game-high 24 points, Joseph Carrafiello added 12 while Michael Rossetti scored eight as the home team – forced to play at the town’s middle school due to the expected crowd – was able to fend off a tremendous first half effort by the Kingstreeters (10-11). 

Eastern broke through Seymour’s 3-2 zone early, attacked the rim with poise, hit its shots and kept things close over a very competitive affair. 

“The first half was outstanding,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray. “You’re an underdog on the road and you just have to make sure you keep everything close. We did more than that.” 

Zaveyn Tate (12 rebounds, four blocks, five steals) and Lukas Sward (four rebounds, five assists) each notched 11 points to lead the Lancers – combining to shoot 9-of-18 from the field to keep Eastern afloat.  

But the rest of the squad went 8-for-33 (24.2-percent) as Seymour’s defense allowed Eastern just one shot over most of the Division IV battle. 

On the flip side, the Wildcats captured 23 offensive rebounds, shot over 48-percent from the field in the second half and did well defensively to disrupt the Eastern offense with closeouts and rebounding toughness. 

“We just couldn’t get anything easy down. Credit them,” said Ray of Seymour. “They’re a very thick interior. For us, we had to make shots.” 

Eastern’s Jordan Chisholm had seven points and two steals off the pine, Ben D’Amato and Naseem Walker each added a three-pointer while Brayden Dauphinais (four steals), Isaiah Bynum (two points, two rebounds) and Brady Bell (two points, five rebounds) all made gains for the visitors. 

Senior Nate Fries (two points, three rebounds) played in his final scholastic game for the Lancers and received a standing ovation on his way back to the bench for the last time. 

The first three quarters saw nine lead changes and six ties as neither team held more than a two-point edge over first period play. 

A steal and lay-up by Dauphinais tied things at 10-10 with 1:53 left to go in the first and off a 3 by D’Amato and a late Bell lay-up off a nifty feed by Sward, Eastern captured a 15-13 lead through eight minutes of play. 

“I’ve got to give Brady Bell a lot of credit,” said Ray. “He gave us a little bit of a spark.” 

The Lancers opened the second stanza with a 7-2 burst as Bell found Sward for a lay-in, Chisholm drained a 3 and when Tate blew by his defender for a lay-up with 4:30 left to play in the half, Seymour was calling for time – trailing 22-15. 

“We did a great job of executing,” said Ray. “Our defense was outstanding. We were running out, broke pressure, made shots, [and] executed really well.” 

But the Wildcats used an 11-2 push to recapture the lead as a 3 by Peraj made it 26-24 with 1:07 before the break. 

To end the half, Chisholm attempted a desperation 3 buzzer, got fouled in the process, and nailed 2-of-3 charity tosses to knot the contest at 26-26 as it was anyone’s game. 

Over third period action, Seymour seemed to grab every loose ball and made several critical putbacks as an offensive rebound and bucket by Caden Drezek (six points) with 3:50 to go as the home squad nabbed a 36-30 edge. 

Free throws by Tate and another lay-up by Sward chopped the deficit to 36-34 with 2:35 left in the third tilt before the bottom completely fell out on the Lancers. 

Seymour went on to score 12 straight points and off a Carrafiello hoop with 7:11 to play, the home team led 48-34 as Eastern ran out of steam.   

“In the second half, the physicality really got to us,” said Ray. “We got into a lot of foul trouble early. Fries had two, Bynum had two and we were just trying to do the best we can.” 

Fries canned a lay-up with 4:47 to go but Eastern was down 52-38 and never got it any closer. 

To end the scoring, Chisholm canned a lay-up and Walker slipped in a 3 and at the final buzzer, Eastern absorbed a tough 22-point loss to end the season at 10-11. 

“In the first half, we spread them out and got to the rim a little bit,” said Ray. “We were able to back up and force them to extend. That gave us some gaps. Once they got the lead, then we had to attack them and when they were stationary, attacking them with really no inside presence was tough. Zaveyn did what he could but we needed somebody that could score baskets in there. He was doing everything he could.” 

“Bynum was doing everything he could, and they were just reading the turnovers at the end.” 

Bristol Eastern Boys Basketball – CIAC Division IV, First Round Action  

SEYMOUR 65, BRISTOL EASTERN 43
from Seymour Middle School 

Bristol Eastern (10-11)         15 11 8 9 – 43 

Seymour (17-6)                      13 13 17 22 – 65 

BRISTOL EASTERN (43): Naseem Walker 1 0 3, Nathan Fries 1 0 2, Jordan Chisholm 2 2 7, Lukas Sward 5 1 11, Brady Bell 1 0 2, Dante DePass 0 0 0, Ben D’Amato 1 0 3, Zaveyn Tate 4 3 11, Brayden Dauphinais 1 0 2, Isaiah Bynum 1 0 2, Owen Myers 0 0 0, Chase Dauphinee 0 0 0. Totals: 17 6 43.
SEYMOUR (65): Michael Rossetti 4 0 8, Robert Carrafiello 0 0 0, Kooper Harmeling 0 0 0, Shane White 0 0 0, Joseph Carrafiello 6 0 12, Jake George 0 0 0, Caden Drezek 2 2 6, Charles Savary 1 1 4, Dylon Ospina 0 0 0, Rahid Ahmed 0 0 0, Daniel Villanueva 3 3 11, Indrit Peraj 9 3 24, Brandon Calabrese 0 0 0. Totals: 25 9 65.
Three-point goals: D’Amato (BE), Chisholm (BE), Walker (BE), Peraj (S) 3, Villanueva (S) 2, Savary (S). 

Records: Seymour 17-6 overall; Bristol Eastern 10-11.