By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – While it wasn’t their last regular season home game, the Bristol Eastern boys basketball program celebrated senior night on Thursday when the team took on New Britain.

It was a large group as Jack Stavens, Tyler Donohue, Josh Kolano, Trini Otero, Axel Fernandez, Trevor Nohilly, Dylan Woodsome and Elijah Parent were honored in their final campaign as members of the BE boys basketball program.

“I got some new seniors and I’ve some guys that have been around the program. It’s been a nice mix,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray. “You know what, when I was going into this shortened season, the first thing I thought was I’m glad I had a lot of seniors. And I was glad I was going to have a lot of guys that were going to contribute who were seniors.”

The Lancers were 2-5 going into the contest against the Hurricanes but just getting a chance to be out on the court again, meeting friends, and learning a little something along the way was important.

Guys like Kolano and Otero lost a chance to play 11-v-11 football during the pandemic while several other elements, items, and activities that seniors enjoy were either curtailed or outright cancelled for those athletes.

But the basketball program got its shot to play and compete which allowed a very good group of young men to reconnect and have a little fun along the way.

“You want them to experience something good when so many things have been taken away from them throughout the school year, not just on the court,” said Ray. “It was in the classroom and other senior activities. You’re hoping this is something positive they can take out of it.”

Parent will leave the Eastern program as its all-time leader in three-pointers made while Kolano and Fernandez made positive contributions to the squad in their one and only season.

Stavens, Otero, Donohue and Woodsome provided solid play over the years while Nohilly always leads the cheers on the bench – giving 100-percent effort when his name is called to enter the game.

And even as COVID tried to derail the campaign, that special group of seniors regrouped and are making a real go of it as the postseason is about to commence.

“They’re all great kids,” said Ray. “I wish they had some better results some nights and I wish they were able to get out and play more games. The quarantine obviously set them back a little bit but we always talk about no excuses. We talk about life. I know good seniors ten years out of the [Eastern] program and they all are successful people. I’ve been fortunate to run into a lot of alumni like that.”

“It makes it all worth it.”