By Michael Letendre
BURLINGTON – As expected, the on-court battle between the Bristol Eastern and Lewis Mills boys basketball teams was as competitive as competitive could be on Wednesday night.
Both squads zipped up multiple possession leads before the Spartans made their shots late, holding on for a big 55-51 victory from the Thunderdome on the campus of Lewis Mills in a CCC South showdown.
Mills (4-2) won its fourth straight game and off the power of 6-foot-4 forward Connor Evans, who blasted home game-highs of 28 points, 16 rebounds and three blocked shots, it was another player in the spotlight for the Spartans.
He started the game hitting 3s before moving into the paint before finishing at the rim with high-percentage buckets.
“The great thing about this team is that we’re not really sure who’s going to have a big game on any given night,” said Lewis Mills coach Ryan Raponey. “The last game, it was Eli [Pelletier’s] turn to get hot and Connor didn’t have his best offensive night. And he knew that and he’s a kid that cares so much about the team. He’s a great leader, he’s a great captain and I think he took that to heart.”
“He knew tonight that he was going to have a little bit of an advantage on the inside with his length.”
The Lancers (4-2) battled foul trouble all evening long while the 3-ball failed to fall.
Bristol’s Zaveyn Tate (team-high 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists) attacked the rim with zest, canned 7-of-10 field goals but he picked up a quick fourth foul to open the final stanza.
Moments later, the Kingstreeters lost its edge and never got it back.
Bristol Eastern efforts fall short against Burlington. | Herve
“That’s the biggest problem,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray of Tate’s foul difficulty. “You take one of your best players and your best threats off the floor because of silly foul trouble. And a couple of those were silly on his part. He needed to keep himself on the floor there and I can’t fault a kid for being aggressive.”
“But, him on the floor for us is a big deal and there were spurts when he came off [the floor] and you could see [Mills] made its runs.”
The Spartans got the jump on the Lancers early as Evans cashed in on a three, just missing the chance at a four-point play, and with 4:52 to go in the first quarter, the home team led 11-4.
“He took it to the outside and showcased that he is not just an offensive rebounder,” said Raponey of Evans. “He can play outside, he can take it to the basket, [and] he can still get you on the glass. I think tonight he showed he should get a chance to play some college basketball at some point.”
Eastern made it a one-possession game moments later as Tate swooped to the hoop, cashed in on the ensuing charity toss and with 2:02 remaining in the first, it was a 13-10 game.
“Tate played a really great game tonight,” said Raponey. “We had a really hard time stopping him while having to pay attention to all the guys that can get you from the outside and the guard play. It’s a really tough match-up. Coach Ray does a really good job putting them in positions to take advantage of things and we just happed to catch some momentum and get some stops down the stretch.”
Early in the second period, Lukas Sward (seven points, two rebounds) received a pass from Naseem Walker — burying a 3 — and when Tate’s lay-up fell through with 6:00 to play in the first half, the contest was all knotted up at 17-17.
Evans scored eight points in the Spartans’ 11-3 run as the home squad nabbed a 28-20 push when Pelletier (six points) drained a 3 with 2:50 remaining before intermission.
To end the stanza, Eastern used an 11-0 push as Ben D’Amato canned a 3, Tate hit two free throws before finding Brady Bell (six points, five rebounds) for a high-percentage bucket.
With the Mills lead trimmed to one, Jordan Chisholm (10 points, three assists) found Bell for another hoop and when Tate flipped in a turnaround jumper, Eastern etched up a 31-28 halftime push.
“We got runouts, we got stops,” said Ray. “Nothing was really in the half court. When they subbed, we turned them over a little bit and then when they put their [starters] back in, we had to play a little more conservatively.”
Midway through the third tilt, Tate and Brayden Dauphinais (five points, four rebounds) hit back-back three-point plays and when Chisholm dropped in a lay-up, Eastern held its biggest edge of the outing at 42-32 with 3:11 to play in the third.
However, over the next six minutes, the Spartans scored 15 straight points – including back-breaking threes by Gavin Daly (at the third period buzzer to trim the deficit to 42-41) and when Pelletier dropped in his final 3, Eastern was calling for time, trailing 47-42 with 5:15 to play.
“I’m telling you, we were on the ropes,” said Raponey. “We were on the ropes and we were kind of staggering a little bit. And we had to get together and get ourselves back to what we know we’re capable of doing on the court. Thankfully, we were able to get a little pressure on, get a few turnovers, and get some opportunities down at the end of the third quarter.”
“That momentum shifted over to our side I think at that point and then we were able to structure our defense a little more and get some stops.”
Chisholm found Tate for a big hoop 14 seconds later, again making it a one-possession game, but baskets by Evans kept Mills in front by seven (53-46) with time becoming a factor.
“The bottom line is we just got mauled inside,” said Ray. “They just pushed us around in there, grabbed the ball. Everybody I had inside there was in foul trouble. They had a weapon that we didn’t.”
“As much as Zaveyn was out on the floor on offense, him having to defend them on defense, that’s what put them in foul trouble.”
Late in the game, Bell dropped in two foul shots and when Tate added a free throw with 39.1 seconds remaining, Eastern was hanging around at 53-49.
Mills then hit 2-of-4 charity tosses to make it a six-point affair and even as Chisholm scored one final hoop, the Kingstreeters ended up absorbing a tough four-point decision, 55-51.
“The last years have been some really, really tight games where it comes down to a possession here or there,” said Raponey of the battles between the schools. “I’m sure every coach says this but you preach that every play matters. And even though its plays early, little things that get done early when you’re still down eight or nine, that little rebound you get or the turnover, the dump off you convert, those things all add up.”
“Thankfully, I got a great group of kids that buys into that and we feel that we’re not out of the game even when we’re trailing when it gets late.”
Bristol Eastern Boys Basketball
LEWIS MILLS 55, BRISTOL EASTERN 51
from the Thunderdome, Lewis Mills High School in Burlington
Bristol Eastern (4-2) 12 19 11 9 – 51
Lewis Mills (4-2) 17 11 13 14 – 5
BRISTOL EASTERN (51): Brayden Dauphinais 1 3 5, Jordan Chisholm 5 0 10, Zaveyn Tate 7 6 20, Lukas Sward 3 1 7, Brady Bell 2 2 6, Ben D’Amato 1 0 3, Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum 0 0 0, Naseem Walker 0 0 0. Totals: 19 11 51.
LEWIS MILLS (55): Connor Evans 11 3 28, Eli Pelletier 2 0 6, Jack Nestor 2 1 5, Gavin Daly 3 0 8, Tristan Mooney 0 0 0, Max Dinunzio 0 0 0, Tommy Dinunzio 2 0 4, Chad Edmond 0 0 0, Brett Harding 1 2 4. Totals: 21 6 55.
Three-pointers made: Lukas Sward (BE), Ben D’Amato (BE), Connor Evans (LM) 3, Eli Pelletier (LM) 2, Gavin Daly (LM).
Records: Lewis Mills 4-2 overall; Bristol Eastern 4-2.
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