By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – Is the Bristol Eastern boys basketball team ever going to play a home game this season?
Does head coach Bunty Ray even know what his office at the school looks like?
Is the date for that first home contest anytime around the corner?
So, after that impressive start on the road (4-1) to open the season, how about a quick game?
Where will the Kingstreeters first game of the 2024 calendar year be played from?
- At home (LOL…).
- On the road, not anywhere near King Street, contested away from the friendly confines of Bristol (do not pass go [and] do not collect $200).
The answer is, not so shockingly, B.
The Lancers have never had such a ridiculous stretch of road games to start a season.
Why should things be easy when they can just be so darn difficult?
Thunderdome: Two teams enter, one team leaves…
Things aren’t going to be easy to open 2024 when Eastern squares off against Lewis Mills on Wednesday in a huge CCC South showdown.
Game time is 6:45 p.m. from the Thunderdome on the campus of Lewis Mills in Burlington.
It will be Eastern’s sixth and final road game to open the season as the program will finally enjoy some home cooking to finish the week.
But back to Mills.
The Spartans are rolling right now after a 0-2 start to the year, led by outstanding coach — and former Bristol Eastern assistant — Ryan Raponey.
It will be another home game for Mills, looking to complete a stretch of four games without a loss.
The Spartans are averaging 62.7 points-per-game over their last three wins, giving up no more than 40 points on the flip side (31.0 ppg).
Raponey’s teams can and will play tremendous defense, and earning a win from the Thunderdome is never a picnic.
In fact, Eastern has never won a game in Burlington and the locals are 1-6 overall versus the Spartans all-time.
The Lancers have dropped five straight to Mills but the Kingstreeters hope to change those fortunes, breaking the Spartans’ winning streak in the process and finish the stretch of road games at 5-1.
Welcome home
After the showdown at Mills, Eastern will finally get some way overdue home cooking.
The Lancers open play at home this Friday with a CCC interdivisional tilt against Tolland.
And the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium better be rocking.
The following Tuesday, Rocky Hill invades Bristol and then the following Friday, double-tough Maloney of Meriden is in town.
Game time for all three events is 6:45 p.m.
“For us, we haven’t been home in a long time,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray. “The road wins, you’ve got to get them where you can get them. It will be good to get back to Eastern one of these [days].”
If you have forgotten how to get to the gymnasium on the campus of Bristol Eastern — the Lancers last regular season game there was back on February 20, 2023 by the way – please consult Mapquest, Google Maps, Waze or any other service you utilize that provides driving directions.
Scoring check
After five games and a 4-1 ledger, senior standout Lukas Sward currently leads Eastern in scoring at 16.4 points-per-game.
Sharpshooter Jordan Chisholm comes in second at 11.0 ppg, Zaveyn Tate (10.0 ppg) is currently third while Brayden Dauphinais (7.8 ppg) follows with some heady play.
Sixth man Ben D’Amato (4.6 ppg) and Brady Bell (4.4 ppg) round out the top six scorers for the Lancers.
Even with Eastern’s first five games coming on the road, the locals average 56.0 points-per-game while yielding just 51.8 ppg to opponents for a positive plus-minus clip.
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