By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The stakes are indeed high in Monday’s final city series bout of the year between the Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern girls basketball programs.
The victor of this game will improve its playoff positioning and both squads could use the win.
Visiting Eastern is 10-9 and currently slated for a Class L road contest for first round play.
Central has put together one of its best seasons ever, posting a 14-5 ledger – currently looking at the eighth position in the Class L standings.
A win by the Rams gets the program a sweep over the Lancers while the Kingstreeters are looking to finish above .500 to end regular season play.
This is going to be a fun one from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium on the campus of BCHS and here’s what to expect as the regular season comes to a close for both programs:
Bristol Eastern at Bristol Central, CCC South showdown
Where: Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium – from the campus of BCHS
When: Monday, 6 p.m.
The storylines to consider: Eastern hasn’t been swept by the Rams since the early 2000s. It’s a situation the Kingstreeters prefer to avoid.
Central finishing at 15-5 would be one of the top regular season ledgers in program history.
Again, a lot is riding on the line for both teams in a must-win situation.
Bristol Eastern (10-9 overall) – Head Coach: Tony Floyd
Probable Line-up:
*Taigan Parent (senior), Guard
*Autumn Udoh (freshman), Forward/Central
*Vanessa Drury (junior), Guard
*Lauren Ayotte (junior), Forward
*Leah Roy (sophomore), Guard/Forward
*Amanda Noel (sophomore), Forward
*Jayle Evins Mosely (freshman), Forward/Center
*Tavia Swain (sophomore), Guard
Bristol Central (14-5 overall) – Head Coach: Steve Gaudet
Probable Line-up:
*Brooke Watson (junior), Forward
*Arianna Rivera (junior), Guard
*Leilani Jackson-Mills (sophomore), Forward
*Kaley Laird (senior), Guard
*Callie Lodovico (sophomore), Guard
*Nicole Riemer (freshman), Forward
*Molly McMahon (freshman), Guard
*Julia Pikiell (freshman), Guard
Will Eastern even-up the series? The Lancers are on a bit of a hot streak, winning three in a row and four of its past five games.
That confidence has gone a long way and now, Central is the final regular season obstacle Eastern has to face before the postseason commences.
“We’ve been getting better every week,” said Floyd. “We’re really starting to come around as a team and we’re doing a lot of good things. The younger kids are starting to understand what we want from them.”
Since losing three-of-four, which included Floyd’s 600th career win over Eastern’s 41-12 stomping of Career Magnet back on January 21, the Kingstreeters have defeated Maloney (55-22), dropped a tough 46-28 decision to Conard, but came back to hang losses on Farmington (57-41), Middletown (71-34) and Plainville (44-17) this past Thursday.
Over its last four victories, Eastern has allowed just 28.5 points-per-game and that’s the goal at Central.
It’s all about defense from the jump ball until the final horn is blown.
“We’re doing a better job defensively,” said Floyd. “We’re doing a better job on the boards. We’re executing our half-court game much better and that’s the biggest thing. We’ve cut down on our turnovers and what I think helps us is the schedule that we’ve been playing.”
“We’ve won some tough games.”
Senior shooting stud Taigan Parent has been on fire as of late, dropping over 50 three-pointers to date, to go along with her 15.0 points-per-game average.
She’ll do her fair share of rebounding, can and will dish the ball off and averages right around two steals an outing. Parent can and will play defense.
Freshman center/forward Autumn Udoh has been simply sensational in her first year at Eastern – averaging a healthy double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds while rejecting just over four shots a game.
She’ll match that total in steals and usually plays the entire game for the Lancers.
Point guard Vanessa Drury chips in eight points, four rebounds and four assists-per-game while picking off several players every outing (3.1 steals-per-game).
Leah Roy and Lauren Ayotte are excellent support staff while Amanda Noel is the sixth man for the Lancers this year, displaying an ever-improving jumper while nabbing her share of rebounds.
That six-man unit, along with Tavia Swain and Jayle Evins Mosely have also contributed when healthy.
Banner season for the Rams and maybe a sweep… It’s been quite a season for Central, improving its record from last year by three games and counting.
And Central has been winning early and often against a variety of opponents.
Central had won five straight games before the 41-28 setback to Berlin last Friday evening.
But both the Rams and Lancers lost to Berlin by similar margins and this rematch between the Bristol programs will once again be nearly even-steven.
Central has the big advantage of playing from home – at the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium – and will enjoy senior night festivities.
Those festivities will be quick as there’s only one senior on the team this season.
Kanye Laird, a nifty defensive guard who has been a thorn in the side of the Lancers for quite some time, will be honored before the game.
Offensively, she averages around 3.0 ppg but her strength is on the defensive end.
Laird will defend Parent early and often, at least until she runs into foul trouble.
Callie Lodovico (6.0 ppg) may draw that defensive assignment as well as multiple bodies might be in the mix to guard Parent.
Leilana Jackson-Mills (11.0 ppg) can make shots from outside-in, Ariana Rivera (10.0 ppg) will steal the ball at a moment’s notice and has an ever-improving offensive game, and freshman Nicole Riemer (9.0 ppg) is going to be a star in the near future.
Molly McMahon and Julia Pikiell also hurt the Lancers the last time around and it could happen again at BCHS with some long-range shots.
Gaudet always has a defensive plan in mind for the BC/BE game and expect a slowdown affair, a possession-by-possession battle that – once again – will probably come down to the wire.
It’s going to be a fun city series bout on Monday night between to 10-plus win programs.
