By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – It’s time for the annual Central Connecticut Conference Girls Basketball Tournament and, for the first time in quite a while, the crew from Bristol Central will be one of the featured programs.
The Rams easily qualified for the 16-team field, ranked fifth overall due to its outstanding 12-3 CCC ledger this season.
And that means a home game from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium in Bristol.
The opponent will come in the form of No. 12 Avon, going 9-6 in CCC battles and will be a worthy challenger for the surging Rams.
This is going to be an amazing test as the Bristol grouping of Leilani Jackson (10.6 points-per-game), Ariana Rivera (9.4), Brooke Watson (8.7), Nicole Riemer (8.7), Molly McMahon, Julia Pikiell and Central captain Kaley and Laird are looking forward to the postseason challenge.
And after an amazing 15-5 regular season ledger, the mission doesn’t change because it’s the CCC Tournament.
“[We have to] just keep working, keep grinding,” said Central coach Steve Gaudet. “It’s the same mindset we’ve had all year. Just keep grinding, keep pushing, and don’t settle.”
The last time Central and Avon tangled was during that ‘Everyone plays in the postseason’ extravaganza the CIAC put together back in 2021.
During that postseason jaunt, the Rams defeated Bulkeley (70-19) in first round play and then picked off Northwest Catholic (52-42) in the semifinals to earn a shot against Avon for the CCC Bracket No. 4 Title.
It was anyone’s game over the thirty-two minute war but in the end, the Falcons went on a run late to churn out a 33-29 victory.
Central ended up in second place in the CCC South standings this year, snaring a 5-2 ledger which included two victories over rival Bristol Eastern.
Coming into the showdown against Avon, the Rams have won six of its past seven games and carries victories over RHAM (ranked 10th in the CCC Tournament)and No. 8 New Britain (11-4) who also drew a home game.
It’s the program’s best year since the 1999-00 campaign and the team has a chance to tally its most wins since 1988-89 (17-3 overall) which was Central’s best ledger ever.
But that’s not important to Gaudet as the team has bigger goals in mind than statistical milestones.
“This is a great year, but we’re not done, and I’ve stressed that in the locker room and I’m going to continuing stressing that,” said Gaudet. “We’re not done. We’ve still got more goals to accomplish.”
Getting done without shooting 3s
For the year, Central has only splashed in 26 three-pointers as a team with Watson leading the way with 10.
It’s impressive because every team – seemingly in the universe – uses the long-range bomb, for better or worse.
High-percentage shots is where it’s at and the Rams do an impressive job attacking inside-out with the likes of Jackson truly thriving in the midrange game.
On the flip side of town, Bristol Eastern has connected on 80 three-pointers this year, a weapon long time head coach Tony Floyd truly did not embrace until the mid-1990s.
Four players at Central have tallied six or more threes this season which includes Jackson (four), Lodovico (4) and Molly McMahon who is second on the squad in 3-pointers made with six.
The Line-up for the CCC’s
Here’s a look at all the happenings from this year’s CCC Tournament:
2023 Central Connecticut Conference Girls Basketball Tournament
Thursday, February 16 – First Round (from the site of the higher seed)
Saturday, February 18 – Quarterfinals (from the Ivan Wood Gymnasium, Plainville)
Tuesday, February 21 – Semifinals (from the University of Hartford)
Thursday, February 23 – CCC Finals (from the University of Hartford)
First Round Bracket – All Games commence at 6 p.m.
No. 16 Bristol Eastern (8-8 CCC) at No. 1 Newington (14-1)
No. 15 5 East Hartford (8-8) at No. 2 Edwin O. Smith (14-2)
No. 14 Berlin (9-7) at No. 3 Glastonbury (13-3)
No. 13 Rocky Hill (8-6) at No. 4 Simsbury (13-3)
No. 12 Avon (9-6) at No. 5 Bristol Central (12-3)
No. 11 South Windsor (10-6) at. No. 6 Conard (12-4)
No. 10 RHAM (11-5) at No. 7 Windsor (11-4)
No. 9 Enfield (11-5) at No. 8 New Britain (11-4)
