By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – When the Bristol Eastern boys basketball team turns up the defense, the squad can be lethal in transition.

And when the program from Southington started turning over the ball against the Lancers on Saturday, February 20, a small lead for the visitors became a huge deficit in nearly an instant.

A 24-4 first half run by Eastern just about knocked out Southington as the Lancers scooped up a 59-49 victory from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium in Bristol.

Southington (1-3) held a 6-5 edge early in the game but the home team forced six first quarter turnovers and from there, Eastern hit a plethora of lay-ups and 3s as Eastern (2-2) canned nine of its first 12 baskets to snare the lead for good.

“I thought getting the stops but more importantly, getting the great looks through good execution and a great a mixture of offense” was the key said Eastern coach Bunty Ray. “That ball touched a lot of different people’s hands in the first half. I think we had eight or nine assists on those hoops. That’s what we talked about, not being one-dimensional. Everybody was going to get their points and it worked out where everybody did.”

“Elijah [Parent] got his, Trinity [Otero] got his, Josh [Kolano] got his…when you start to do that, you can’t key in on one guy.”

Balance was the name of the game as Parent (14 points, seven assists, three steals), Kolano (12 points, six rebounds, four assists), and Otero (11 points, six rebounds, two blocks) all chipped in equally to help Eastern earn the win.

A little wrinkle, in terms of a nifty Eastern 2-2-1 defensive press, gave the Knights (13 total turnovers) all sorts of fits on offense.

Besides the miscues, Southington shot just 38-percent from the field (21-of-55) while hitting only four-of-12 hoops from deep.

“Southington is a great offensive team,” said Ray. “When they run their stuff, they’re very disciplined. I thought [our] made shots allowed us to put in a little 2-2-1 press which we just put in actually today. We were able to disrupt them, mix zone, mix man, make them uncomfortable and we got the stops when we needed to.”

“It was just a snowball effect.”

But the stars of the show were Jack Stavens and Nasir Walker-Jenkins.

Stavens was outstanding, sinking in a career-high 11 points – all in the fourth quarter – as Southington fought its way back into contention while Walker-Jenkins (career best nine points, three assists, two steals) was a pest against Southington’s guards trying to operate on the court.

“Nasir Walker-Jenkins played an outstanding game defensively,” said Ray. “He handled the ball, he made some great decisions, and I have to give him a lot of credit. Josh Kolano, same thing. And Elijah is Elijah [while] Trini had to battle down there.”

“And Ty [Donohue] gave us some pretty good minutes as well.”

Southington’s Dylan Olson led all players with 20 point but the entire team had to work hard for its offense.

And in the early going, a put-back by Aedan Derrick (eight points) made it a 6-5 game in the Knights’ favor with just over two minutes gone in the showdown.

From there, Eastern turned defense into offense.

That 24-4 jaunt, highlighted by multiple three-pointers by Parent and Kolano and a couple hoops from Walker-Jenkins, the Eastern cushion reached 29-10 with 5:52 left to go before halftime.

“Everybody was a threat out there which was pretty impressive to watch,” said Ray.

But the Lancers offense then stalled out for the rest of the half and into the third frame.

Southington, trailing 29-17 at intermission, used a 25-9 surge to make it a one-possession game and when Derrick made a strong move to the hoop for two to end the third tilt, Eastern’s lead was chopped to three at 38-35.

“I knew throughout the game, eventually that there was going to be a run from Southington,” said Ray. “They got some easy baskets inside but they got two-pointers, not threes. We were then able to make the big shots down the stretch to put them at an arm’s length.”

Making those big shots was Stavens, who drained back-to-back 3s to open the fourth period, that extended Eastern’s lead to 44-35 with 6:53 remaining.

After the Knights got within four (44-40) at the 6:10 mark of the fourth, the Lancers eventually made it a double-figure edge again.

Otero rattled home a jumper off a Parent feed, Stavens dropped in his third 3 of the period, Kolano nailed two free throws and when Stavens hit his final hoop of the contest, Eastern snared a 53-41 push with 2:56 to go.

“We attacked the rim,” said Ray to end the game. “When they started pressing us, we were able to get lay-ups and that kind of put them away a little bit. I mean the 3s were daggers but as they we pressing us, we were able to move the ball, get it inside and finish.”

Walker-Jenkins was then all over the place to end the game.

Eastern’s guard found Otero for two and when Walker-Jenkins drew a charge with 1:03 left, the Lancers still led by nine (55-46) and time was all but gone.

To end things, Walker-Jenkins hit one final hoop and Otero canned two charity tosses as Eastern scooped up a 59-49 win from home.

“It was just one of those games where early on, we didn’t practice for a couple days and we needed to save guy’s legs,” said Ray. “We played a lot of guys in the first half and it really showed up in the second half. They didn’t turn the ball over, we kept the lead, we were able to hold off that little run that Southington made and it was a great win.”

CCC Region B boys basketball

BRISTOL EASTERN 59, SOUTHINGTON 49

from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium, Bristol

Southington (1-3)    8 9 18 14 – 49

Bristol Eastern (2-2)   21 8 9 21 – 59

SOUTHINGTON (49): Nick Marecki 1 0 3, Devon Bade 2 0 5, Rick Macioce 1 0 2, Dylan Olson 8 3 20, Aedan Derrick 4 0 8, Ryan Hammarlund 1 0 3, Colin Crowley 2 0 4, Eli Whitehead 1 0 2, Luke Penna 1 0 2. Totals: 17 3 49.

BRISTOL EASTERN (59): Nasir Walker 4 0 9, Elijah Parent 5 1 14, Josh Kolano 4 2 12, Trini Otero 4 2 11, Tyler Donohue 1 02 , Jack Stavens: 4 0 11, Axel Fernandez 0 0 0, Trevor Nohilly 0 0 0. Totals: 22 5 50.

Three-point goals: Marecki (S), Bade (S), Olson (S), Hammarlund (S), Kolano (BE) 2, Parent (BE) 3, Stavens (BE) 2, Walker (BE), Otero (BE).

Records: Southington 1-3, Bristol Eastern 2-2.