By Michael Letendre  

MERIDEN – After two tough losses on the road in Meriden last week, the Bristol Eastern boys basketball program is looking forward to a little home cooking.

And that starts on Thursday night against Maloney (6:45 p.m.) in a huge rematch that is a must see event.

Last Friday, the Spartans blew all of a double-figure lead against the Lancers but the basketball gods were smiling on the squad from Meriden that night.

Eastern, leading 36-35 with 5:40 to play, allowed Maloney several added chances with the ball late and the Spartans were able to cash in on its free throw shooting, making five to end the game – leading to a 48-43 setback for the Kingstreeters.

Fast forward to tonight in Bristol and the Lancers have a chance to right the ship.

“That’s one that I’ve kind of circled” on the calendar said Eastern coach Bunty Ray of the Maloney rematch. “You know, you look at your losses and we’ve had some losses against some really good teams. Maloney’s a good team too but that [previous game against Maloney] we were really in it.”  

Eastern forward Brayden Dauphinais dropped in 23 points and snatched seven rebounds at Maloney, getting to the rim at will, and doing a lot of good things on the hardwood.

Over the two game excursion in Meriden – which included a tough 73-47 loss at Platt – saw Dauphinais average 14.5 points and 5.0 rebounds-per-game over its two game Hardware City jaunt and the Lancers will need every point out of one its top performers.

Also along that Maloney/Platt loop last week, Zaveyn Tate (10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists-per game against the Meriden teams) and Nate Fries (6.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals) kept the Lancers in those games along with Ben D’Amato, Lukas Sward, Jordan Chisholm and Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum.

Maloney should be facing a pretty motivated group at Eastern on Thursday evening.  

Winning is good, losing is not

Off that setback to Hall (53-47) on December 20, the Kingstreeters went on a five game winning streak and posted a 70-44 victory at Watertown on January 24 to qualify for the postseason.

It will be Eastern’s first trip to the big dance since 2015.

And each additional win will aid the Lancers with its playoff positioning.

That’s why the five-point loss at Maloney was such a heartbreaker.

A littler more attention to detail down the stretch by Eastern against the Spartans might have produced a ‘W’ in the end.  

“Early on against Hall, that was early [loss] in the season,” said Ray. “Midseason [against Maloney], we just didn’t play well. I know the score was the score but to be honest with you, I thought we played really well tonight [versus Platt].”  

“The night [against Maloney], I can’t really say that.”  

Those back-to-back game at Maloney and Platt are always a rough ride but Eastern showed plenty of competitive fight against both those Meriden programs.

Sick

After last season, Eastern has been relatively healthy but a couple guys on the court were a bit under the weather or nursing injuries last week.

It’s flu season and the like which effects every team and opponent in scholastic sports. 

“Every time you come to Meriden, you have to go back-to-back days and it’s tough,” said Ray. “You just want to keep getting better at this point of the season. This is the hard part of the season. You’ve got some sickness on our team, and you’ve got some guys that are banged up a little bit. We’re trying to fight through that, but we have to find a way against Maloney.”  

What’s on the line tonight at BEHS

This is going to be a huge game for both teams from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium in Bristol.

Maloney is sitting on 7-7, one win away from state tournament qualification.

This team has the capability to sweep Eastern this year but the Lancers have their own agenda coming into the CCC South bout.

The Lancers are looking for win No. 9, a chance to move up in the CIAC Division IV playoff rankings and get a little payback all at the same time.

So, what’s going happen on the campus of BEHS tonight?  

“I told [my players] we haven’t lost three in a row” this year said Ray. “You’ve got to keep it going. We’ve had a couple losses here, a couple losses there, and we have to find a way [to beat Maloney] especially with Lewis Mills and Middletown right behind that.”  

“So this is the tough part of the season, and you have to come up with something.”

The Schedule

As the month of February commences, there’s a realization that the Lancers aren’t going very far to conclude its regular season.

Only trips to Plainville and Southington remain on the slate while Eastern has five games to play from home – including a makeup tilt against tough Lewis Mills this Saturday (1 p.m.).

Here is what the Kingstreeters are looking at the rest of the way:  

Bristol Eastern’s Remaining Schedule (All games to commence at 6:45 p.m. unless noted)

*February 2, vs. Maloney

*February 4, vs. Lewis Mills (1 p.m.)

*February 7, vs. Middletown

*February 10, at Plainville

*February 14, at Southington

*February 17, vs. South Windsor

*February 20, vs. Bristol Central (6 p.m.)