By Michael Letendre

TOLLAND – On last season’s CIAC Division II state championship squad in boys basketball, Bristol Central forward Jayeson VanBeveren got a chance to play in several games.

Most times it was spot duty but he managed to hit a timely 3 here or there and gobbled up a critical rebound when a member of the team was in early foul trouble.

But fast forward to the present and, due to an injury to 6-foot-8 senior Julius Powell, VanBeveren is now the man in the middle for Central with more experience than anyone else on the court for the Rams.

And if Central wants to go anywhere this season, VanBeveren has to produce on both sides of the ball.

In his first two games, the forward/center has done just that, dropping in averages of 12.0 points and 15.0 rebounds-per-game over the squad’s 1-1 start.

But when things are breaking down on the court or Central coach Tim Barrette needs a little leadership – or a little more defense for that matter – the long time mentor is usually getting on VanBeveren to provide it.

And the senior typically responds with added zest on the court.

“I’m tough on Jay,” said Barrette. “I told the guys in the locker room [at the Tolland game on Monday] ‘if you think I yell a lot at you, I yell at Jay more than anyone because I expect the most out of Jay.’”

That scenario happened against Tolland when a failed box out allowed the home team another shot, and basket, which gave the Eagles on early edge.

And Barrette was seeing red off the play, screaming for a timeout.

But once Barrette got his point across on the importance of boxing out and picking it up defensively during the break in the action, VanBeveren and company were back on track.

The senior hit two smooth 3-pointers from the same spot on the floor – part of an 8-0 game-changing run – that propelled Central to its ultimate lead and advantage throughout.

“Jay’s got to be our leader,” said Barrette. “That was who I was really mad with during that first timeout. Jay didn’t box out. But he ends up with 13 rebounds while he had 18 the other night [against Manchester].”

Tolland was scrappy and pushed Central physically throughout the game.

A few players hit the hardwood several times against the Eagles due to aggressive play but those athletes from Central kept getting back up, pushed the ball inside to Carmelo Thompson (15 points) and VanBeveren (14) who scored more than a few high-percentage buckets.

“We really put on onus tonight on getting the ball inside” against Tolland said Barrette. “We didn’t do enough of that against Manchester. We put some new sets in, some different looks to try to get Jay the ball. I’m tough on Jay because I expect to get the most out of Jay.”

The long-range bombs worked against Tolland as well.

Central canned 8-of-19 attempts from deep for a slick 42-percent clip but its two-point percentage was a bit off from mark.

The team hit the offensive boards for second and third chances at the hoop which made a difference.

Central ended up only 4-of-12 from the free throw line but if they can clean up both the two-pointers and charity tosses and continue making threes at a high percentage, the Rams should be in line to win some more games this season.

“We have to make free throws, we didn’t do that well in the fourth,” said Barrette. “We have to make our layups. If we’ve got to go, we’ve got to go. We can’t throw things up. We have to go to get fouled or we have to go finish. There’s no if, ands or buts. You can’t be cute in the fourth quarter.”