By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – Trailing by 23 points midway through the third quarter against Farmington, the Bristol Central girls basketball team made a spirited run – chopping the deficit to ten – and put itself back into contention.

But in the end, the Rams just couldn’t get over the hump as Farmington held on to win its CCC Region B encounter by a 69-56 final from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium in Bristol on Monday, March 1.

Farmington improved to 5-2 over the winning effort while Central dropped to 1-6.

But the Rams showed more than a little gumption that evening and once the offense started to churn for the home team, Central was on the cusp of making it a game.

The 56 points marked a season-high for the Central squad – the most points the program has scored in a game since dropping Hartford Public (59-55) back on February 3, 2020.

And the offense for the Rams came from many fronts.

Ella Watson notched 15 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists and a team-high four steals while teammate Sophia Torreso added a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three assists.

Damani Hough hit four field goals for eight points while contributing five rebounds and a couple steals, Janessa Bartell shook off foul trouble to produce five points, seven rebounds, and three steals and fellow starter Gwen Torreso added seven points and six rebounds to the till.

And off the pine, Central received two big efforts from Brooke Watson and Arianna Rivera.

Watson dropped in three points, four rebounds and four assists while Rivera’s bid at an off-the-bench double-double just came up short.

She flipped in eight points and nine rebounds while Alyah Rodriques saw a little floor time when Bartell dealt with early foul difficulties.

That 23-point deficit loomed large on the scoreboard and was a huge hole to crawl out of but a big 16-3 Central run – starting in the middle stages of the third quarter – saw the Rams knock the score down to 53-43 with 6:18 remaining in the game.

And Central took stabs at making it a single-digit affair but every late three-pointer and charity shot was just off the mark which would have trimmed the Farmington edge to eight or nine points.

The Rams’ defense over the second half of the contest was superb as Farmington hit just 11-of-34 field goals (32.4-percent) and had to sweat it out until the final horn sounded.

The problem was Central spotted Farmington a 10-0 lead over the first 2:06 of the showdown and the home team was in catch-up mode from that point on.

Trailing by ten, Hough scored two quick hoops and when Ella Watson put back a missed hoop, Central chopped the deficit to 12-6 with 4:23 left to go in the first frame.

Later in the quarter, Farmington’s Emma Novajasky canned a traditional three-point play and one 3 later, the Rams were trailing 23-8 with 2:03 to go in the stanza.

Ella Watson hit a lay-up towards the end of the first and when Brooke Watson found Sophia Torreso for an open 3, Central trailed Farmington by a 23-13 push after eight minutes of action.

Bartell drew her third foul with 5:34 left to go in the second stanza and Farmington eventually pushed the deficit to 36-19 with 3:05 remaining in the first half.

To end the second, Hough made her fourth field goal of the half, Brooke Watson found Sophia Torreso for another three-point bomb and when Gwen Torreso dropped in a free throw to finish the scoring, Central trailed 40-25 at intermission.

Farmington started the third tilt on a 10-2 run as Central’s offense was silent early and with 3:52 to play in the quarter, the visiting aggression built a 50-27 tally – its largest advantage of the game.

But the Rams chipped away at the deficit, erasing nine points before the end of the third as Ella Watson made two consecutive lay-ups, Bartell hit her first field goal and when a Sophia Torreso dish led to a hoop by Brooke Watson, Central was hanging around, down just 53-39 with one quarter to play.

Bartell opened the fourth by scoring four points in a matter of 42 seconds and quickly, Farmington’s lead was trimmed to 53-43 with a ton of time left.

But the deficit never reached single-digits though the Rams had multiple chances to make it a three-possession game late.

Neither team held any type of advantage in the fourth even as Farmington misses began to pile up but when Sophia Torreso found a hustling Gwen Torreso for a lay-up with 2:45 to go, it was a ten-point game again at 59-49.

Central just couldn’t get over that double-figure deficit as Farmington built the lead back to 15 late before ending the contest a hard-fought 69-56 winner in Bristol.

NOTES…Central has a tough task at home today, battling CCC Region B leader Southington at 5:30 p.m. in Bristol. Currently, Southington and Bristol Eastern hold the top spots in the division at 6-1. The Lancers battle Plainville tonight at the Ivan Wood Gymnasium, also at 5:30 p.m.