By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – Last season, the Bristol Central and Gilbert girls basketball teams squared off in a huge confrontation from the Bristol Central Holiday Classic on December 29, 2021.
The Yellowjackets wrangled up a huge 20-point plus lead but saw it completely evaporate before freshmen guard Emily Arel hit some critical buckets late to lead her team to a 62-56 win.
Exactly one year later, the teams were back at it and Arel, now a slick shooting sophomore, was once again standing in the Rams’ way.
But this time around, it was Central that had all the defensive answers.
Arel was limited to just 19 points and was clearly tired off some staunch Central defense as the Rams squared away a huge 63-30 win from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium.
The win propelled the Rams’ program to the BC Holiday Classic championship.
Central’s Kaley Laird (four points) helped to slow Arel early before foul trouble put her on the bench.
From there, Callie Lodovico – and a host of other players – all helped push Arel to the brink.
“That’s what we talked about all day in practice yesterday” said Central coach Steve Gaudet about defending Arel. “We had a phenomenal practice [the day before]. We talked about how it was going to be a team effort, defensively and offensively. Kaley was outstanding and then Callie coming to play defense on her…that girl [Arel] is so talented, so skilled and is a hard worker.”
“We held her to 19 and our goal was to keep her under twenty.”
Central threw the proverbial kitchen sink at Arel as Central’s defenders are all able to slow down the impressive scorer from Gilbert.
The rest of the Yellowjackets’ squad managed just 11 total points which manifested itself into a very tough night for the Winsted squad in Bristol.
“If we kept her under twenty, we thought we had a chance to win the game,” said Gaudet of Arel.
On the flip side, five players from Central tallied double figures in scoring.
Adrianna Rivera led the charge with 14 points while Callie Lodovico added 13.
Brooke Watson scored 12, Leilani Jackson nabbed 10 while Nicole Riemer notched her 10 points off the bench as balance was the key.
Four lead changes highlighted a back-and-forth first frame of play before Watson hit a floater – plus a foul – and when she calmly sank the charity toss, Central led it for good at 7-6 with 4:37 remaining in the period.
That one point edge eventually was pushed out to eight before the home team settled on an 18-12 lead through one.
The lead grew to 28-14 with 3:39 to play before the half as Watson canned another jumper.
Arel nearly had to back to single digits late in the second but another hoop from Watson, a slick floater by Laird and an offensive rebound and put-back by Rivera at the halftime horn pushed Central’s edge to 34-17.
Would Central relent after the break and allow Arel and company to get back in the game?
Not in the least as the Rams used an 11-4 burst to put the thing out of reach over the first four minutes of the third quarter.
Two jumpers by Jackson started the quarter and when Laird banked a basket in with 3:15 to go in the third, the contest was a 47-23 blowout.
“I don’t think I could have preached it anymore in the locker room [at the half] about how important those first four minutes were,” said Gaudet. “Because against South Windsor at the beginning of the season, we had a big lead against them and [lost] it. But these kids are young and they’re learning. We’re competing. Every day, we’re getting better. It’s still a long season but I’m pretty proud of the effort we gave tonight.”
Arel was trying to single-handily keep her squad in reach but even as she dropped in a field goal after a basket from Rivera, Gilbert trailed 51-26 with just eight minutes remaining.
After a banked by Rivera shot found the bottom of the net, Arel drained a 3 with 5:49 left that trimmed the deficit back to 24 at 53-29.
From there, Arel did not score again as the Yellowjackets tallied just a single foul shot the rest of the way.
To end the contest, Riemer hustled for the final six points of the affair and at the final horn, Central moved to 4-2 with its tremendous 63-30 victory over Gilbert to win its first ever Bristol Central Holiday Classic title.
“It was just an outstanding effort from top to bottom,” said Gaudet. “All the girls, I couldn’t be prouder.”
BRISTOL CENTRAL HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT – Girls Basketball
BRISTOL CENTRAL 63, GILBERT 30
from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium, Bristol
Gilbert (1-2) 12 5 10 3 – 30
Bristol Central (4-2) 18 16 17 12 – 63
GILBERT (30): Kimmy McCarthy 0 0 0, Emily Arel 7 4 19, Andrea Buncalan 2 0 4, Alina Gutic 2 0 5, Emily Fedorowicz 0 0 0, Addy Lillie 1 0 2, Shelby Salius 0 0 0, Kaydee Schmidt 0 0 0, Emma Beres 0 0 0, Marianna Castro 0 0 0. Totals: 12 4 30.
BRISTOL CENTRAL (63): Sierra Messier 0 0 0, Leilani Jackson 5 0 10, Molly McMahon 0 0 0, Brooke Watson 5 1 12, Kaley Laird 2 0 4, Adrianna Rivera 7 0 14, Julia Pikiell 0 0 0, Callie Lodovico 4 5 13, Olivia Morton 0 0 0, Nicole Riemer 4 2 10. Totals: 27 8 63.
Three-point goals: Arel (G), Gutic (G), Watson (BC).
Records: Bristol Central 4-2 overall; Gilbert 1-2.
TBE Tournament MVP – The entire Bristol Central team earned the MVP Award.
All TBE readers, supporters and donors
The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.
- Non-members will be able to access eight (8) articles per week.
- Free readers and people who have subscribed by email will be able to access eight (8) articles per week.
- Donors and financial supporters will have unlimited access as long as they log in.
Note: Donors may have to contact TBE if they find they are being limited, since we will need to set up a membership account for you. Email editor@bristoledition.org for instructions. Sorry for any inconvenience. People with financial difficulties may write editor@bristoledition.org to be considered for free access.
