By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – Bristol Central’s boys basketball team has been competing over another tough slate of games this season – another year of the Donovan Clingan schedule.
The program has taken its lumps to date after a promising 2-3 start.
After foiling both Maloney (51-36), a team that is currently at .500, and non-conference challenger Capital Prep in the consolation game of the BC Holiday Invite, the team went right back to work in the CCC grind.
The Rams have lost four straight, including a tough setback to Platt (59-57) on Thursday night.
After that tough defeat, dropping Central to 2-7 overall, it was time for the program to catch its breath.
“We need to reset a little bit,” said Central coach Tim Barrette. “I said that to the guys. I need to reset. They need to reset. And then when we come back, we need to do those little things we’ve talked about.”
The Rams are in the midst of an eight day layoff between games and getting back to practice is something Barrette was looking forward to.
“We’re going to do a little bit of skill work, competing in practice,” said Barrette. “Practice overall this year has been pretty good. I’ve been happy with the majority of it. Obviously, not everyone is going to practice great every day but we’ve been happy overall with practice.”
And once the team goes back to work, Central is going to have its hands full.
Central is home for five straight games, starting with non-conference challenger Xavier on January 19.
Three days later, Hall comes to town (January 22), followed by showdowns against East Hartford (January 24), Berlin (January 26) and Southington (February 1) – all from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium.
Last year, the Rams went on a nine-game losing streak before finally beating Eastern to finish the regular season.
Hopefully with this break, and a bit of a recharge, Central will be looking to make a little noise over the five-game home stand.
“We need to come back to work and take care of the little things,” said Barrette. “We need to start following scouts better and things like that. That’s one of the things I’ve focused on. There’s a mental side to this game that comes with the experience. I was a little bit disappointed tonight on how we handled some situations [against Platt].”
“I also said that was a teaching moment in there because a lot of these guys don’t have a ton of experience, especially in two point games with the crowd going nuts and everyone standing. It was a great atmosphere for the kids to play in.”
Bristol Central’s leading scorers to date
Here’s how the scoring breakdown looks for the squad this season:
Mikey McMahon (13.2 points-per-game), Carmelo Thompson (6.8 ppg), Quincy Lawson (6.4 ppg), Joey Pikiell (6.0 ppg), Nate Ortiz (5.0 ppg), Harry Ross (5.0 ppg), Jaysun Dominguez (4.7 ppg), Cody Roy (2.7 ppg), Jayden Sokolowski (2.3 ppg) and Gavin Chamberlin (1.7 ppg).
All TBE readers, supporters and donors
The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.
- Non-members will be able to access four (4) articles per week.
- Free readers and people who have subscribed by email will be able to access four (4) articles per week.
- Donors and financial supporters will have unlimited access as long as they log in.
Note: Donors may have to contact TBE if they find they are being limited, since we will need to set up a membership account for you. Email editor@bristoledition.org for instructions. Sorry for any inconvenience. People with financial difficulties may write editor@bristoledition.org to be considered for free access.
