by Joey Pikiell
Bristol Central faced off against Weaver Friday night at Trinity College in the Doc Hurley classic. In a defensive overtime battle, the Rams beat the buzzer with a set play to eke out a 45-43 win.
Both teams struggled on offense in the first half. Bristol Central went into halftime with a 1 point lead, 16-15.
The two teams traded baskets the whole second half with neither team able to separate from the other.
With 30 seconds left, the contest was tied and Weaver had the ball. Bristol Central was able to force a miss and got the ball with 3 second lefts, but the Rams were unable to convert.
The score going into overtime was 38-38. In the extra session, each team only scored five points. This resulted in a tie game at 43 with 25 seconds remaining.
With Weaver in possession, Central senior captain Nate Ortiz got a steal with three seconds remaining. He passed it ahead to Gavin Chamberlin. Chamberlin was hit hard in what was ruled a flagrant foul. However, Chamberlin wasn’t able to connect on either of the free throws.
Because of the flagrant foul, BC still had possession. Central coach Tim Barrette drew up a play to get Malaki Holley an alley-oop at the rim. Holley drained the hoop at the buzzer for the thrilling win.
Jayden Sokolowski came off the bench and was a huge force for Bristol Central. He scored 16 points and earned the MVP of the game. Said Sokolowski, “We struggled shooting the ball today, but our defense is what won us this game.” Quincy Lawson was a force in the paint for the Rams. Lawson had a double-double, grabbing 12 rebounds, scoring ten points with three blocked shots.
BC sophomore Malaki Holley struggled a bit during the game. However, he came up big at the end and hit the game winner for the Rams.
The game was not always pretty, but Barrette stated, “We won that game because of our defense.”
Bristol Central’s is now 1-1 in the early season. Their next game is Monday, December 23 at Simsbury .
Editor’s note: Joey Pikiell is a student reporter for TBE covering boys basketball at Bristol Central. Thank you to the Bristol Sports Hall of Fame for a $1,000 grant to pay for student reporting at the high schools. The Bristol Edition is voluntarily matching that grant to provide this service to our readers.
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