By Michael Letendre
SOUTHINGTON – The Bristol Eastern boys basketball team trailed former CCC South rival Southington by 21 points in its game on Tuesday night before showing a little gumption over second half play.
The Lancers trailed by just 12 over the early stages of the final period but the home team – using the energy of senior night to make one final push – got the best of the squad from Bristol as the Knights earned a 68-53 win from Southington High School.
Eastern (9-9) fell behind 24-10 after one period and had to play catch-up the rest of the way but the Lancers battled Southington (13-5) nearly even the rest of the way before running out of gas.
Turnovers foiled Eastern over first half play as 12 miscues led to several additional shooting opportunities for the Knights.
“We knew what the pressure was going to be like, and we just didn’t withstand it,” said Eastern coach Bunty Ray. “We didn’t get the ball inside which is what we needed to do. We needed to relieve the pressure off our guards. In the second half, I thought we did a much better job getting the ball inside to get it off our guards. Credit Southington. That’s a strong team out front. They have a lot of wins for a reason. I thought we could have put up a different fight in the first half.”
Southington displayed balanced scoring as Aiden Buck, the squad’s tough point guard, scooped in 18 points, Carson Lentini added 16 while Luke Penne posted 14 for the winners.
Eastern’s Zaveyn Tate showed energy and grit – especially over second half play – in collecting a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three assists and a couple steals.
He helped bring the ball up the court on several occasions and his energy helped lead the Kingstreeters over its second-half surge.
“He’s a sophomore and you’re asking a sophomore to be consistent night in and night out,” said Ray of Tate. “He’s been consistent all year and tonight, he just had a bad [first] half. He couldn’t score, he wasn’t in the right positioning, and he wasn’t doing the things he needed to do. In the second half though, with a little bit of a challenge at halftime, he played much better.”
Brayden Dauphinais added 11 points while Lukas Sward (nine points, six rebounds, three assists) and Ben D’Amato (nine points, three 3-pointers) also added something offensively.
Jordan Chisholm tallied nine points, Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum notched five rebounds off the pine and senior forward Nate Fries cashed in on six tough rebounds – providing a big boost for the Lancers over the final 16 minutes.
“You’ve got to credit Nate Fries in the second half,” said Ray. “He really was a spark. I actually asked for a little leadership, and I think that’s what we were lacking in the first half. I think guys were worrying about themselves instead of what they were supposed to worry about. In the second half, I thought you saw more guys picking each other up and Nate was at the head of that. I’m not talking about points. I’m talking about defense, rebounds, talking and he put in a captain’s effort.”
Eastern out-shot Southington at the free throw stripe 18-9 but made just three more than the home team did.
“I thought the free throws were a big issue for us tonight,” said Ray. “We didn’t make as many but that’s easier said than done when you’re out there chasing Southington on defense and fighting for your life on offense. There’s a little fatigue that set in.”
Eastern trailed 7-0 out the gate as Buck was leading the charge offensively for the Knights but midway through the frame, D’Amato dropped in his first 3 to trim the deficit to 9-5 with 4:28 remaining in the stanza.
Southington finished the tilt on a 16-5 jaunt and off a free throw by Chisholm, Eastern trailed 24-10 through one.
The deficit ballooned to 20 early in the second period as Eastern was trying to stay in contention.
Dauphinais dropped in five points midway through the stanza, D’Amato added another trifecta and Sward finished the half with a driving lay-up as the Kingstreeters trailed Southington 42-23 at the half.
The third tilt saw Eastern and Southington trade buckets but off a D’Amato 3 and three straight points from Tate, the deficit was chopped to 47-31 with 3:51 remaining in the quarter.
The Knights then attacked again and off a lay-up from Buck, the home team etched up a 54-33 cushion with 1:16 left in the third.
However, Eastern used an 8-0 burst to get back into the mix as Bynum put back a miss while Dauphinais added two charity tosses and a couple jumpers – his last trimming the score to 54-41 with 7:07 left in regulation.
Minutes later, Chisholm canned another 3 and with 6:01 showing on the clock, it was a 56-44 game, and the Knights were sweating it out a bit.
But missed shots and turnovers by the Lancers followed as Southington put the event away.
“We’re attacking in the fourth and then we turn the ball over at the worst time,” said Ray. “The ball touches the hands of someone it’s not supposed to. But what are you going to do? We’re digging in on defense, we started doing the things that we needed to do and all of a sudden, we get down on this end and we just needed one of those hoops to go in.”
An 8-0 jaunt, capped by two free throws from the crafty Buck, made it a 20-point game again at 66-46 with 1:37 left.
To end the showdown, Tate hit one final hoop while Sward splashed in a 3 as Eastern finished its final road game of the regular season with a 68-53 loss at Southington with two contests left on tap from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium in Bristol.
“There was some resiliency in the second half,” said Ray. “I was really happy with that. We did not quit. Southington had to keep their starters out there for a little bit. We really worked doing the things we should have done in the first half. It showed in the second half.”
Bristol Eastern Boys Basketball – CCC Interdivisional Play
SOUTHINGTON 68, BRISTOL EASTERN 53
from Southington High School
Bristol Eastern (9-9) 10 13 14 16 – 53
Southington (13-5) 24 18 12 14 – 68
BRISTOL EASTERN (53): Nate Fries 1 0 2, Zaveyn Tate 4 3 11, Brayden Dauphinais 3 5 11, Lukas Sward 3 2 9, Ben D’Amato 3 0 9, Jordan Chisholm 3 1 9, Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum 1 0 2, Dante DePass 0 0 0, Brady Bell 0 0 0. Totals: 18 11 53.
SOUTHINGTON (68): Ryan Hammarlund 5 1 11, Luke Penne 5 2 14, Aiden Buck 6 5 18, Carson Lentini 7 0 16, Ian Beierle 0 0 0, Dan McGetrick 1 0 3, John Flynn 1 0 2, John Cessario 1 0 2, Connor Crist 0 0 0, Andrew Morikis 0 0 0, Max Colaccino 1 0 2. Totals: 27 8 68.
Three-point goals: Sward (BE), D’Amato (BE) 3, Chisholm (BE) 2, Penne (S) 2, Buck (S), Lentini (S) 2, McGetrick (S).
Records: Southington 13-5 overall; Bristol Eastern 9-9 overall.
