By Michael Letendre
The Bristol Central girls basketball team made all the right players down the stretch in the championship round of the BC Holiday Classic on Wednesday evening.
It what turned into an overly physical affair against Canton, the Rams made several defensive stops, posted a seven-point lead with 1:54 before holding on to dear life — eventually scooping up a 57-54 victory to win its second consecutive holiday title.
Contributions came from all over the court for Central but it was super sophomore Nicole Riemer that stole the show once again.
She dropped in a career-high 25 points, snared several clutch rebounds and simply refused to let her squad lose to a very talented Canton program.
“It feels really good,” said Riemer of the win. “Like I said before, our goal was to win this. We worked hard and we did win this. Again, I said about the family part, and think that’s a huge deal because it was physical and being a family, I think we picked each other off the floor, cheering each other, that led us to our win.”
If there was a tournament MVP award, Riemer would have won it in a landslide.
She averaged 24.5 points-per-game over the two-game affair – never coming off the floor in the championship encounter – and now averages a team-high 18.0 ppg after tournament play.
“She’s a once in a lifetime player for a coach,” said Central coach Steve Gaudet of Riemer. “I’ve been coaching twenty years and never had someone of her size, her athleticism, her mental toughness, her competitiveness and that engine that doesn’t stop. She played the entire game. She didn’t come out.”
“And it was a fast and up and down crazy game and just her tenacity – she’s tenacious – that’s the word I describe her as.”
Foul trouble disqualified Central’s multitalented Leilani Jackson, sending her to the bench with 7:43 to go in the game.
So, who would step up in Jackson’s absence?
It was freshmen time as first-year guards Laylani Cespedes and Olivia Louis – along with veterans Arianna Rivera and Riemer — were simply tremendous.
Cespedes would not be denied as she dropped in a season-high 19 points – 11 of those coming over fourth period play.
Her defense matched her offensive output and the guard made a couple pressure-filled free throws late in the fray.
“[She was] unbelievable,” said Gaudet of Cespedes. “We have a little thing where we give a little Ram after game [award]. She got the Ram today because we didn’t win that game without her tonight. She was outstanding. Look at some of my contributions today. [There were] some big ones from freshmen, sophomores. Laylani and [Olivia] Louis…just their effort and their competitiveness, you don’t teach that.”
Louis, who was pushed, clawed and battered all night on the court, simply never gave up.
Her four fourth quarter points were a timely contribution and when Cespedes and Louis connected on back-to-back threes with 3:06 left in the game, it was a deal.
That one-possession edge became an eight-point cushion (48-40) as Central put together a 24-point fourth quarter with 15 of those points were notched by the freshmen class.
Canton’s Avery Brown flashed in 23 points while teammate Ruby Theberge was limited to just two field goals.
However, she canned 16-of-21 free throws — leading to a 20-point night.
Back-to-back lay-ups from Cespedes and Rivera gave Central an 8-3 lead with 3:19 left to play in the first frame.
However, a 12-3 run by the Tigers — ended with a lay-up from Brown — gave the team a 15-11 lead with 6:40 to go in the second quarter, the biggest lead of the game for Canton.
Central then plastered together a 10-0 jaunt as Riemer opened the ended the run with offensive rebounds and put-backs, her last one making it a 21-15 game with 3:02 remaining in the half.
Laylani Cespedes hits a free throw, left, and right, Leilani Jackson tosses up a runner in the lane. | Herve
Leading by three (21-18) going into the third tilt, the Rams constructed a few seven-point leads and when Julia Pikiell found Riemer for a quick lay-in and with 1:32 left in the stanza, the home team led 32-25.
Canton scored eight points over the final 1:23 of the third to tie things up at 33-33 to end the third as Theberge hit 5-of-6 charity tosses and Brown drained a huge 3 to draw the score even.
“Every time we got a lead I felt that was comfortable, we kind of relaxed and then [Brown] hit a big shot,” said Gaudet. “I wish we could have ended [it quicker] but we’re young, we’re learning and I just think we got to build off this, improve and keep learning.”
Central led from start to finish in the fourth but the Tigers never truly went away.
Riemer tallied five points over the first 2:54 of the fourth period as Central captured a 40-34 lead.
Cespedes and Louis connected on those clutch three-pointers to push the Rams to a 48-40 edge, but Canton was relentless offensively.
A free throw from Theberge made it a one possession game (49-46) with 2:27 to play before a hoop and two free throws by Cespedes posted the Rams to a 53-46 push with 1:54 to go in regulation.
Brown later hit a 3, tossed in two foul shots and with 64 seconds remaining, it was a one score game again (54-51).
Cespedes followed up with a charity toss and then her steal and lay-up with 27.6 seconds left made it 57-51 in Central’s favor.
Canton nearly evened things up late as Brown dropped in one last three-pointer and off two free throws misses by Central, the visitors had the ball, trailing 57-54 with 7.8 seconds showing on the clock.
Canton set up one final 3 — attempting to tie the event up and force overtime — but Theberge’s final 3 never drew iron as Central came away with a huge three-point triumph, moving to 4-2 overall on the season.
“Understanding score and time left in a game, we need to work on some things there,” said Gaudet. “But listen, I win with this young group and we just keep building off of it. [I’ve] got to be happy.”
Bristol Central Holiday Classic – Girls Final
BRISTOL CENTRAL 57, CANTON 54
from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium, Bristol
Canton (2-2) 13 5 15 21 – 54
Bristol Central (4-2) 24 22 16 7 – 57
CANTON (54): Ruby Theberge 2 16 20, Brooke Czerwinski 2 0 6, Sam Yanke 1 0 2, Avery Brown 6 8 23, Helen Canny 1 0 2, Avery Miller 0 0 0. Totals 12 24 54.
BRISTOL CENTRAL (69): Layman Cespedes 7 4 19, Olivia Louis 1 1 4, Leilani Jackson 0 0 0, Molly McMahon 0 0 0, Arianna Rivera 4 1 9,
Julia Pikiell 0 0 0, Nicole Riemer 8 9 25. Totals: 20 15 57.
Three-point goals: Brooke Czerwinski (C) 2, Avery Brown (C) 2, Layman Cespedes (BC).
Records: Bristol Central 4-2 overall; Canton 2-2.
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