By Donovan Rodriguez
The Bristol Central girls suffered their second loss of the season Tuesday night to the top ranked team in Connecticut, Northwest Catholic. The Rams were involved in a great back and forth game until late in the fourth quarter. Still with the 82-67 loss, Central continues to show a promising season for the future.
The first period saw both teams searching for an edge. After a three by Maeve Staunton of Northwest, Central’s Laylani Cespedes answered back with a layup. Kamaria Bowen and Nicole Riemer then combined to score 15 BC points in the quarter and the Rams led, 17-16 after one.
Abigail Casper opened the second period with a three for Northwest. But Bowens answered right back with a three of her own. The remainder of the second quarter continued that way.
Cespedes hit a three and then a layup off a fast break to cut the lead to a 35-33 Northwest lead at the half.
Central came out in the third looking to gain some momentum. After some great offensive drives led by Riemer and Bowens, the Rams took a four point lead, 43-39
But NW Catholic came right back and tied the game, forcing the Rams to regroup with a timeout.
NW Catholic ramped up their defensive pressure and started forcing turnovers. They went ahead by seven, 53-46, with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
A buzzer beater hit by Bowens made the score 55-48 entering the final quarter.
NW Catholic came out strong in the fourth quarter, led by Staunton and Casper. Central was forced to take a timeout with the score stretching away from them at 62-49.
Bowens, who led the Rams with 29 points, did everything she could to keep Central close. She drove the whole court to score over three defenders in the paint. On the next possession, she made a mid-range jumper.
But the Rams never got the defensive stops they needed to close the gap, and the game slipped out of their hands. With the lead expanding, the Rams lost their second game of the season after starting 6-0.
Bowens led the Rams in scoring with a big 29 point night, while Riemer scored 15.
Staunton and Casper were a huge one-two punch for Northwest with 25 and 26 points respectively.
Bristol Central is now 6-2, while NorthWest Catholic continues to go through the season undefeated at 8-0.
The Rams will look to get back on track on Friday in a road contest against Simsbury.
- Bristol Central (6-2)
- Laylani Cespedes 4 0 11, Olivia Louis 0 1 1, Kamaria Bowens 10 7 29, Gabby Bernier 2 0 6
- Molly McMahon 2 0 5, Nicole Riemer 7 1 15, Totals 25 8 67
- Northwest Catholic (8-0)
- Maeve Staunton 10 2 25, Lilyan Johnson 3 0 7, Zoey Canning 6 1 13, Samantha Casper 5 1 11
- Kennedy Thames 0 0 0, Abagail Casper 8 7 26, Totals 32 11 82
Bristol Central: 17 16 15 19 67
Northwest Catholic: 16 19 20 27 82
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