By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – The Bristol Central boys basketball squad got its CIAC state tournament push off to a glowing start as the top ranked Division II program knocked off pesky No. 16 Amistad by a 65-38 final from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium in Bristol on Thursday.

The second-round showdown saw the Rams lead from wire to wire while the Wolves lived – and eventually died – from the three-point line.

With the victory, Bristol advanced to play No. 8 Waterford – a 51-48 overtime winner over No. 9 Staples – in a quarterfinal confrontation.

That showdown is scheduled for 6 p.m. from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium in Bristol on Friday.

It was another historic night for the Rams and each win from here on out will continue to fuel two school records.

Central, now on a 40-game winning streak, has not posted a loss since February of 2020.

The team’s 25th victory also established a new school record for wins in a single season.

But there was a little rust early as Central was just a step behind offensively as the team’s last game was the 63-56 triumph over Northwest Catholic one week previous.

“It looked like it, definitely early on,” said Central coach Tim Barrette of the early game struggles. “No matter what, you can only practice so many days. Coming off a snow day yesterday, [it’s] not ideal. I also think that sometimes we read our press clippings too much and we were’t ready to go.”

However, Central flipped the script to begin the third period, forcing several early turnovers to make it a 47-25 game with 3:13 left to play in the stanza.

Amistad trailed by at least 18 points the rest of the way.

‘In the second half, we tried to push that primer button with that trap coming out, kind of got us going a little bit more defensively,” said Barrette. “We got out on the break and got some easy hoops early. And then we were able to push that lead out to thirty.”

Donovan Clingan was tremendous again, boosting in 26 points, 24 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Amistad tried to be overly physical with the 7-foot-2 athlete and even as he was hacked and held repeatedly, Clingan went into beast-mode – attacking the rim with zest and then blocking and altering shots on the other end.

But the game might have belonged to Central’s Carson Rivoira as he did a little of everything against the Wolves.

Rivoira posted 14 points, five rebounds, and two assists but was a complete beast on the defensive end.

He chipped in with four steals while rejecting two shots as Rivoira restored balance to the game on both sides of the ball.

“He’s my glue guy…he’s blue collared,” said Barrette of Rivoira. “He’s a grinder, he’s a bulldog and if I’m going to war with anyone, Carson Rivoira is on my team.”

And speaking of fit and flow, Damion Glasper, Steve Alseph, and Victor Rosa combined for 24 points and more steals that should be legally allowed on the hardwood.

Glasper ended the contest with 10 points, Alseph (nine) was one off that tally, while Rosa chipped in with five.

Tre Blair, Aaron Brown and Jayeson VanBeveren all made timely contributions for the Rams.

Arion Robinson and Aden Goffe each scored 12 points to lead Amistad, ending its season at 14-8.

Central notched the first 10 points of the game, capped by a sizzling one-handed slam off a great feed by Alseph, as the Wolves were shutout early.

A lay-up by Goffe trimmed the deficit to 10-5 with 1:47 to play in the first quarter but the Rams rattled off 12 straight points to put some distance between the squads.

After a Rivoira lay-up, Alseph canned a 3 while Glasper added in his own trifecta and a floater and with 7:01 left in the second stanza, Central led 22-5.

Amistad hung around by hitting four threes over the final 5:53 of the half but Clingan scored eight straight points for Central and after Rivoira and Alseph dropped in hoops, it was a 34-21 game at the half.

To start the third period, it was turnover city for the Wolves as Central used its zone – a little 1-3-1 to boot – and off a 13-4 jaunt, sealed with a Clingan dunk and a 3 by Rosa, the Rams were leading 47-25 with 3:13 left in the frame.

“Once we get into our zone [defense], we get really difficult to score against,” said Barrette. “We tend to like to play man first and then go to zone just because I think it gets you a little more in tune to your assignments when you start man. And then we go to that zone and once we extend like that, it’s very difficult for teams to score.”

A jumper by Robinson made it a 52-34 game with 22 seconds remaining in the third tilt but a quick 10-0 push from Central – ended via a Rosa drive and hoop – gave the Rams its biggest lead of the evening at 62-36 with 4:47 left.

One final dunk by Clingan, coupled by a free throw from Brown, ended the scoring as Central advanced to quarterfinal round play with the 27-point romp.

“When you hold a team in the state tournament to under forty points, you can’t complain defensively,” said Barrette. “I wasn’t happy at halftime defensively and it’s funny because I said to our guys ‘we’re just better than that.’ I said at halftime we played a C- game when we were up 13.”

“We can’t do that against Waterford tomorrow night.”

2022 CIAC BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT – Second Round

No. 1 BRISTOL CENTRAL 65, No. 16 AMISTAD 38

from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium, Bristol

Amistad (14-8) 5 16 13 4 – 38 

Bristol Central (25-0) 17 17 20 11 – 65  

AMISTAD (38): Rodney Cook 2 0 4, Bernett Scott 0 0 0, Arion Robinson 4 2 12, Brandon Hicks 2 0 6, Aden Goffe 4 2 12, Thmiri Reddick 0 2 2, Eveyon Pearse 1 0 2. Totals: 13 6 38.

BRISTOL CENTRAL (65): Victor Rosa 2 0 5, Damion Glasper 4 0 10, Steve Alseph 4 0 9, Carson Rivoira 7 0 14, Donovan Clingan 12 2 26, Julius Powell 0 0 0, Jayeson VanBeveren 0 0 0, Aaron Brown 0 1 1, Tre Blair 0 0 0, Zack Vanasse 0 0 0. Totals: 29 3 65.

Three-point goals: Robinson (A) 2, Hicks (A), Goffe (A) 2, Glasper (BC) 2, Rosa (BC), Alseph (BC). 

Records: Bristol Central 25-0 overall; Amistad 14-8.

CIAC BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT DIVISION II PAIRINGS AND RESULTS – Round 2

Friday’s Scores

Hello

Bristol Central 65, Amistad 38

Conard 70, Westhill 61

Crosby 62, Stamford 57

Holy Cross 69, St. Joseph 58

Middletown 71, Prince Tech 52

Northwest Catholic 72, Greenwich 45

Waterford 51, Staples 48(OT)

Wilton 57, Newtown 49

QUARTERFINALS

No. 8 Waterford (17-5) at No. 1 Bristol Central (25-0), 3/11, 7:00 pm; No. 5 Holy Cross (17-4) at No. 4 Wilton (18-3), 3/11, 7:00 pm

No. 7 Crosby (16-5) at No. 2 Northwest Catholic (20-1), 3/11, 7:00 pm; No. 11 Middletown (16-6) at No. 3 Conard (19-2), 3/11, 7:00 pm