By Michael Letendre
BLOOMFIELD – The undefeated Bloomfield boys basketball team took it to Bristol Eastern on Monday evening, outscoring the Lancers 54-12 over second-half play, as the Kingstreeters fell by an 86-36 final on the road in a CCC Interdivisional contest.
Bloomfield, after scoring 108 points against Bulkeley the previous game and winning by just under sixty points, moved to 9-0 on the campaign.
The Lancers fell to 3-7 at the halfway point of their season but played a spirited first half to make the home team more than a little irritated.
Bloomfield forced 37 turnovers, leading to lay-ups on the flip side and cobbled together a 53-percent shooting clip from the field after a chilly start.
“That was a tale of two halves,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray. “When your guards can’t negotiate, you can’t make a pass, you’re in trouble. That’s what happened tonight. They were allowed to do things to us tonight that we can’t handle. They were just grabbing us, pushing us, shoving us. They weren’t all fouls. They were just more physical than we were.”
Luke McLean tossed in 21 while Jaysean Williams and Davion Kerr each netted 17 for the undefeated Warhawks.
The home team did not bring up any JV players for the varsity game as the squad had just nine bodies – meaning a starter was out on the floor the entire evening despite Bloomfield running up the score and leading by fifty.
The Lancers shot 44-percent from the field overall and attacked the hoop with zest but did not attempt any free throws despite a physically intense game. Bloomfield out-shot Eastern from the charity stripe, 12-0 – missing eight of those attempts.
But Eastern made it a game early, led by five midway through the first quarter and kept things close going into the break.
“We got stops,” said Ray. “They opened the floor for us and we got some easy baskets. When they condensed it, it became really difficult.”
Brayden Dauphinais led the Lancers with 10 points while the backcourt of Lukas Sward and Nasir Walker-Jenkins played well – especially over the first two periods.
Sward just missed a double-double, tallying seven points and nine rebounds while Walker-Jenkins added four points and five assists.
The duo did a commendable job early, pushing the ball up the court, breaking the pressure and finding high-percentage attempts for teammates.
Eastern shot 11-of-19 from the field in the first half but the Warhawks came out with extreme pressure to open the third tilt, quickly taxing the ballhandlers which led to several turnovers.
“He was working hard in the first half,” said Ray of Sward. “In the second half, I think he just got overwhelmed. Both guards [Sward and Walker-Jenkins] were just under so much duress that we couldn’t make a play. Without [Elijah] Borgelin tonight, somebody who can flash and make a play, that becomes very difficult.”
Jerry Tatum scored five points, Jahsun Gayle (four points, three rebounds) notched his first varsity hoops, Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum netted two points and five rebounds while Dennis Cruz and Zaveyn Tate also cashed in offensively with a basket apiece.
The game was afoot early as the squads were all tied up midway through the first frame before Tatum hit back-to-back hoops, making it a 14-9 contest with 2:19 left, as Bloomfield called for time.
Williams scored the final seven points for his squad in the period but Walker-Jenkins canned a floater and Dauphinais netted a lay-up as the teams ended the first with an 18-18 stalemate.
Eastern’s defense continued to play well in the second quarter as the Warhawks misfired on nine-of-14 shots from the field.
The Lancers tallied only six points but Bloomfield could not produce a double-digit lead by the halftime break.
Jenkins found Dauphinais and Sward for buckets midway through the second and when the Warhawks closed out the half with three free throws, the home team’s lead was only 32-24 as the Lancers were hanging around.
However, Bloomfield pressed Eastern to death over the next 16 minutes, even as the Lancers trailed by fifty with turnovers and missed shots dooming the visitors.
The Lancers were outscored 30-4 over third stanza play and were quickly out of contention.
Gayle and Lawrence-Bynum were the only players to score for the Kingstreeters in the third as Bloomfield ramped up a 62-28 edge through three.
Eastern emptied the bench early in the fourth quarter but the Warhawks never relented defensively, even after the outcome wasn’t in doubt.
Late in the game, Cruz, Tate, and Gayle all finished off the scoring for Eastern with hoops as the locals absorbed a tough 50-point loss on the road.
“That’s a team that should end up as a contender in Division IV for sure,” said Ray of Bloomfield. “They’re undefeated for a reason. [But] fifty points is a little too much for my liking but I put some young kids in there and Bloomfield didn’t. They inflated the lead, they kept pressing us right to the end and we have to be able to handle it.”
Bristol Eastern Boys Basketball
BLOOMFIELD 86, BRISTOL EASTERN 36
from Bloomfield
Bristol Eastern (3-7) 18 6 4 8 – 36
Bloomfield (9-0) 18 14 30 24 – 86
BRISTOL EASTERN (36): Jeremiah Tatum 2 0 5, Lukas Sward 3 0 7, Brayden Dauphinais 5 0 10, Nasir Walker-Jenkins 2 0 4, Nate Fries 0 0 0, Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum 1 0 2, Ben D’Amato 0 0 0, Dante DePass 0 0 0, Jahsun Gayle 2 0 4, Dennis Cruz 1 0 2, Zaveyn Tate 1 0 2, Jalen Stokes 0 0 0, Caleb Molinsky 0 0 0. Totals: 17 0 36.
BLOOMFIELD (86): Dallas Rose 4 0 8, Jaysean Williams 7 0 17, Howard Simpson 6 0 13, Cayden Smith 3 0 7, Lake McLean 9 2 21, Jansyn Booth 0 1 1, Jaden Jameson 1 0 2, Darion Kerr 8 0 17. Totals: 38 4 86.
Three-point goals: Lukas Sward (BE), Jerry Tatum (BE), Jaysean Williams (BL) 3, Cayden Smith (BL), Lake McLean (BL), Darion Kerr (BL).
Records: Bloomfield 9-0 overall; Bristol Eastern 3-7
