By Michael Letendre
ENFIELD – The Bristol Eastern boys basketball team is going to have some prolific stretches of basketball this season.
On Tuesday evening, the Lancers put on a bit of a defensive/offensive clinic at Enfield High School – sizzling for 31 second period points – as Eastern nabbed a big 75-61 victory in a Central Connecticut Conference interdivisional clash.
The Kingstreeters (2-0 overall) led 12-9 towards the tail end of the first period and then blitzed the youthful Eagles (0-2) for 19 straight points as Eastern led by 23 (31-9) midway through the second stanza.
“There were parts of the game where we looked really good,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray. “But it started with defense. When we were able to get defensive stops, we had run-outs, we had layups, and we reversed the ball.”
Enfield eventually trailed by 30 but trimmed the deficit to 11 late off a boatload of three-pointers from freshmen Jason Mahon (30 points) while Josiah Upson added 16.
However, Eastern was rolling over the middle two frames, making 15-of-20 field goals during one tremendous stretch that helped the visitors construct a 55-25 cushion with 6:41 to go as the Eagles had used all of their timeouts midway through the third in an attempt to slow down the offensive assault.
The Lancers nearly saw all of their starting five square up double-figure scoring.
Lukas Sward canned a career-high 20 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists and a couple steals.
Jordan Chisholm was unstoppable in the second quarter, going 4-for-4 from downtown on his way to 19 points, with a couple rebounds and three assists mixed in.
Zaveyn Tate attacked the hoop for several lay-ups, going 7-for-10 overall from the field, nabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists.
Brayden Dauphinais flipped in a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds while dishing out five assists and rejecting three shots.
Brady Bell hit for six points and collected a career and team-high 11 rebounds to fuel an excellent defensive effort from the starting lineup.
Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum corralled six rebounds in 10 minutes of court time while Ben D’Amato and Naseem Walker provided support off the pine.
Leading by one midway through the first quarter, Sward connected on a traditional three-point play and then blasted in a three-pointer to make it a 12-7 game with 2:27 to go in the tilt.
And after a lay-up by Upson, it was all Eastern over the next 19 points.
Chisholm and Lawerence-Bynum canned hoops – making it a 16-9 edge through one – but the scoring exploits didn’t finish there.
To open the second, Tate rolled to the hoop for two, Chisholm hit his first 3, Sward added free throws, Dauphinais nabbed a lay-up and after another couple trifectas by Chisholm, the Lancers were firmly in command at 31-9.
“In the first quarter, we came out very lethargic, getting bad shots,” said Ray. “Then all of a sudden, we made one or two passes and we have a lot of weapons. We were able to reverse the ball, get different guys in different positions.”
Chisholm proceeded to hit two more 3s in the middle of the second period and to end the half, with Enfield employing a box-and-one defense on Chisholm, Sward and Tate drained trifectas as Eastern cruised to a 47-25 halftime edge.
“Jordan got really hot, Enfield made an adjustment, so then we moved on to the next guy,” said Ray. “Tate scored on some drives, then they made an adjustment and all of a sudden, Dauphinais was able to do some things. And then we just kept moving on down the line.”
“Brady got a couple easy baskets in transition. All in all, it was a great offensive day.”
An 8-0 jaunt by Eastern to start the third quarter pushed the deficit into oblivion as Bell hit a couple high-percentage buckets while Tate and Sward finished shots in the paint – propelling the Lancers to a 55-25 lead 79 seconds into the new half.
Enfield’s Anthony Tallavita hit two 3s late in the third quarter but the Lancers took a 63-41 push into the final eight minutes of play.
Tate opened the fourth quarter with a hoop and when Chisholm took a shot to the eye attempting a 3, his three free throws pushed the Eastern edge out to 68-41 with 6:38 to go.
The Eagles didn’t go quietly into the night as the squad went on a 17-1 burst as a barrage of 3-pointers from Mahon and Upson trimmed the deficit to 69-58 with 2:40 remaining.
“We were staying home, we were showing on screens,” said Ray about Eastern’s defense. “I’ve got to give them credit. They took some tough shots and they made some tough shots. I don’t know how many 3s they made (12 overall) but it seemed to be a lot and every time they threw something up, it seemed to be going in. And we were right there.”
“Maybe there were one or two blown assignments but they were making tough shots.”
Eastern then took advantage of the shot clock, playing a little keep away that forced the home team to foul late as the Kingstreeters wasted some time.
Charity tosses by Sward and Dauphinais kept Enfield from creeping any closer as Eastern eventually rolled up a 75-61 victory on the road.
“I thought what we did well down the stretch was we took some clock,” said Ray of the fourth period. “Even though there’s a shot clock, it doesn’t mean that you have to shoot. Thirty-five seconds is a long time so if you take thirty-five seconds when you’re up a lot of points, another thirty-five seconds and another thirty-five seconds, it’s the same thing and we got better shots while we were doing it.”
Bristol Eastern Boys Basketball – CCC Interdivisional Clash
BRISTOL EASTERN 75, ENFIELD 61
from Enfield High School
Bristol Eastern (2-0) 16 31 16 12 – 75
Enfield (0-2) 9 16 16 20 – 61
BRISTOL EASTERN (75): Brady Bell 3 0 6, Zaveyn Tate 7 3 18, Brayden Dauphinais 3 2 10, Lukas Sward 6 6 20, Jordan Chisholm 6 3 19, Ben D’Amato 0 0 0, Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum 1 0 2, Naseem Walker 0 0 0, Dante DePass 0 0 0. Totals: 26 9 75.
ENFIELD (61): Josiah Upson 6 0 16, Jackson Davis 0 0 0, Marcus Abatayo 1 0 3, Jason Mahon 11 3 30, Gavin Sampson 0 0 0, Parker Salvas 1 0 2, Anthony Tallarita 3 0 8, Allen Aceituno 0 0 0, Matt Griffen 1 0 2. Totals: 23 3 61.
Three-point goals: Brayden Dauphinais (BE) 2, Jordan Chisholm (BE) 4, Zaveyn Tate (BE), Lukas Sward (BE), Josiah Upson (E) 4, Marcus Abatayo (E), Jason Mahon (BE) 5, Anthony Tallarita (E) 2.
Records: Bristol Eastern 2-0 overall; Enfield 0-2.
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