By Michael Letendre
NEW HAVEN – The road to Mohegan Sun is never an easy one to travel in scholastic hoops but the squad from Bristol Central will end up at that destination.
And on Tuesday evening, in front of a packed house from the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven, the Rams punched its CIAC, Division II state title game ticket via an incredible 54-52 overtime win over Wilton in an epic semifinal showdown.
Central is a sterling 27-0, winners of 42 straight games, and travels to Uncasville this weekend for a championship showdown against No. 2 Northwest Catholic (25-2) with all the momentum in the world on its side.
But Central had to survive all the elements as the game turned into physical onslaught that was centered around 7-foot-2 Donovan Clingan (game high 30 points, 21 rebounds, eight blocks).
Battling three defenders at a clip, tripped on at least half-a-dozen occasions, and mauled time after time after time, the senior never lost his composure on his way to another sizzling performance.
“Tonight was a little more than usual,” said Clingan of the game’s physical nature. “I just [did] my best to keep my head, stay strong and work through contact and just play my game.”
Early in the overtime session, Wilton lost its two best players due to fouls, as well as Central’s Steve Alseph (seven points, incredible defense), as the top seed attempted 36 free throws as battle was waged on the hardwood for thirty-six minutes.
“This was a rugby match,” said Central coach Tim Barrette. “I didn’t realize we’d be playing rugby but it is what it is. My guys sucked it up tonight, played through the contact.”
Wilton (21-5) truly put together an amazing game but too many lulls on offense – due to an over-the-top defensive effort by Central – doomed the squad.
The Warriors made a hoop with 3:42 left in the second period, seizing a 16-12 edge, but did not score again in the half as the Rams snared a 19-16 push at intermission.
And Wilton was silent over the first 3:30 of the overtime session as Central grabbed a 50-45 cushion, never giving up the lead in OT.
“I thought we did a great job defensively all night,” said Barrette. “Then when [Wilton] got into a little bit of foul trouble in the end, obviously we were able to close the game out.”
The only place where Central struggled was at the free throw stripe – making just 14-of-24 shots – before overtime was needed.
From there, the Rams did not make a field goal in the fifth period.
Instead, Central coolly canned 9-of-12 charity tosses – making its final six in a row – to ice the showdown.
“If we had made some free throws in the fourth quarter, we could have put this thing away” in regulation said Barrette.
And that would have helped because Central, via 1-of-2 free throws from Clingan, made it a 44-34 game with 1:51 remaining in the fourth frame.
Wilton’s Kevin Hyzy (11 points) then canned a baseline 3 and off a quick steal, he kicked in another one – all over a stretch of 10 seconds – and with 1:32 showing on the clock, it was a 44-40 game.
Clingan was fouled, again making one of the two attempts, but when Wilton’s Parker Woodring (13 points) hit a little fallaway in the lane with 1:06 left in the fourth, it was a one possession contest at 45-42.
Five seconds later, Central committed a turnover on the inbounds and from there, Alseph fouled Thomas McKiernan (15 points, all on threes) in the midst of shooting a 3.
The shot fell in for McKiernan and with 40.8 seconds left, the contest was knotted at 45-45 and Wilton was looking for its first lead since 1:19 of the second half via a four-point opportunity.
“Give Wilton some credit making some threes in the end,” said Barrette. “Those were contested [but] they made some shots.”
But the charity toss was off target, Alseph nabbed the rebound, and Central was looking for Clingan for the go-ahead hoop.
But his contested attempt was off the mark and after a scrum, McKiernan had the ball and the Warriors called time with 22.9 seconds left in regulation.
Wilton worked the ball around but committed an offensive foul with 7.8 seconds left and Central returned the favor when a pass to Clingan went too far over the center’s head and out of bounds.
After a desperation 3 by Woodring failed to fall in, an extra four minutes were added to the scoreboard.
“Apparently, we like to play in overtime down here at Floyd Little,” said Barrette. “We’re 2-0 in overtime [in New Haven]. It shows the maturity of my team.”
But Wilton never got on track in OT as Central slowed the pace down, getting the ball to its shooters.
McKiernan fouled out as Damion Glasper (12 points) made a free throw and off a Wilton miss, Clingan was fouled with 1:40 to play – calmly sinking two foul shots to make it a 48-45 game.
Soon after, Kevin Hyzy was disqualified but Alseph missed two charity tosses as the Warriors were looking to draw even with 1:18 left.
Wilton then misfired on two shots and when Clingan snared the ball with 35.8 seconds remaining, the big man made it a five-point game.
He connected on two free throws as Central’s edge reached 50-45 as time was running out.
Alseph fouled out with 31 seconds left as Central did a nice job in using the combination of Tre Blair and Jayeson VanBeveren to fill in for the disqualified senior.
Woodring missed the front end of a one-and-one but Wilton’s Eusebe Zarius was fouled, making two charity tosses with 30 seconds remaining, as the deficit was chopped down to 50-47.
A foul on Clingan led to two additional free throws less than a second later but the Warriors couldn’t throw the ball into the ocean on the ensuing drive.
Wilton missed four straight field goals, managed to get the ball back, but the scoreboard read 52-47 with 7.3 seconds left.
Woodring hit a floater with 3.6 seconds remaining, Glasper then kicked in two free throws with 2.7 seconds to make it five again and even as Woodring banked home a 3 at the buzzer, Central started the celebration – winning the contest by a 54-52 final.
It was physical from the start as neither team grabbed any kind of early first period advantage.
Victor Rosa (five points) connected on a three-ball and Clingan notched the final five points of the first frame for the Rams but after eight minutes of play, things were all tied up at 8-8.
Wilton started the second stanza on an 8-4 burst as threes by Craig Hyzy and McKiernan fueled the squad to a 16-12 lead with 3:42 remaining in the period.
However, Central tallied the remainder of the points in the half as Clingan cashed in on a foul shot, Alseph hit two of his own, Clingan then sank a hoop and when Rivoira found Glasper for a baseline jumper, it was a 19-16 game going into the break.
Wilton was never able to take the lead over the third, fourth, or fifth frames – only tying it up late to force the overtime on McKiernan’s huge 3– but when the final buzzer sounded, the boys basketball team from Bristol Central was Mohegan Sun bound off the two-point triumph.
“When you get lucky, you’ve got to win one of these if you want a chance to [play] at Mohegan,” said Barrette. “We obviously did enough to win tonight.”
2022 CIAC BOYS BASKETBALL, DIVISION II TOURNAMENT – SEMIFINAL ROUND
No. 1 BRISTOL CENTRAL 54, No. 4 WILTON 52 (OT)
from the Floyd Little Athletic Center, New Haven
Wilton (21-5) 8 8 9 20 7 – 52
Bristol Central (27-0) 8 11 14 12 9 – 54
WILTON (52): Zarius Eusebe 2 2 6, Tommy McKiernan 5 0 15, Parker Woodring 6 0 13, Kevin Hyzy 4 0 11, Max Andrews 1 0 2, Craig Hyzy 1 0 3, Max Silva 1 0 2. Totals 20 2 52.
BRISTOL CENTRAL (54):
Victor Rosa 2 0 5, Damion Glasper 4 3 12, Steve Alseph 1 4 7, Donovan Clingan 7 16 30, Carson Rivoira 0 0 0, Tre Blair 0 0 0, Jayeson VanBeveren 0 0 0. Totals 20 23 54.
Three-point goals: McKiernan (W) 5, Woodring (W), K. Hyzy (W) 3, C. Hyzy (W), Rosa (BC), Glasper (BC), Alseph (BC).
Records: Bristol Central 27-0 overall; Wilton 21-5
Division II – Semifinal Results from Tuesday
No. 1 Bristol Central 54, No. 4Wilton 52 (OT)
No. 2 Northwest Catholic 62, No. 3 Conard 35
Division II – Finals (from Mohegan Sun)
No. 1 Bristol Central (27-0) vs. No. 2 Northwest Catholic (25-2), TBA
