I had the day off from the regular job Monday, so I decided to check out live streams of local games.
I found three different ones over the course of the afternoon and evening, and each involved a Bristol school. I watched portions of the Bristol Central boys, Bristol Eastern girls and St. Paul girls games, so here’s a bit about each game.
Bristol Central blowout
The first time the Rams played against Plainville, the Blue Devils made it close, with the final score of 64-61 in favor of the Bristol school.
The second meeting wasn’t close as Central blew away Plainville, 74-41, on its Senior Night. A big reason why the Rams won going away was Central’s dominant 7-foot-1 junior center Donovan Clingan. Clingan threw down one-handed slams, grabbed rebounds and blocked shots in an overwhelming second quarter. The Rams ran off a 22-9 quarter that led to a 42-19 halftime lead. On four straight occasions, Clingan grabbed an offensive rebound and dunked. That frustrated the Plainville coaching staff, but there’s not much anyone can do against Clingan, who is so much taller than pretty much every opposing player on the floor. Clingan also blocked two three-point attempts by the Blue Devils, one in each of the first two quarters. That takes discipline and skill. Clingan later swished a 3-pointer from the right wing during Central’s 11-0 run.
Clingan wasn’t the only one scoring points. Junior guard Damion Glasper scored on an array of runners and short shots. Plainville pushed the margin down to 16 points, 57-41, early in the fourth quarter, but Central went on an 11-0 run to blow the game wide open. The Rams are 9-0 with three games left in the regular season.
Bristol Eastern’s big win
On the other side of town, the Lancer girls were going up against a Southington team that blasted them by 20 points in Southington on Feb. 20. Eastern was also coming off a 44-39 loss at Plainville in its last outing.
This time around, it was Eastern’s turn to run away with a win over Southington. The Lancers were ahead by seven, 23-16, at the half but turned up the pressure on the Blue Knights in the second half. The result was a 55-37 victory that set the records for both teams at 7-2.
Junior Ciara Collins continued her tear offensively with a game-high 28 points. Emma Stavens, only a freshman, added 15 points. Senior Alyssa Kehler and junior Janessa Gonzalez each finished with six points.
St. Paul wins close one on the road
The Falcons found themselves in a low-scoring affair against Naugatuck on the road and were able to come away with the 30-26 win over the Greyhounds.
St. Paul took the lead in the third quarter, only to be caught by Naugatuck. The Falcons again grabbed the lead in the fourth quarter and were hanging onto it after two big baskets from junior Alexis Tierpack. Tierpack scored on a layup off a good set, then drilled a long two-point shot from the top of the key.
St. Paul was ahead 27-24, but committed a big basketball mistake by fouling on a 3-pointer. The Falcons still held a 27-26 advantage after two of the three shots were made. Naugatuck had two more free throws with 1:16 left, but missed both. The Falcons held the ball, then sophomore Sophie Bogdanski drove the lane and was fouled. She hit on one of two free throws to give her team a 28-26 lead with 42.8 to go. The Greyhounds had a chance to tie or take the lead, but junior Zoey Rubins came up with a steal and was fouled with 21.6 seconds left. She made one of two free throws for a 29-26 lead.
Naugatuck turned it over again, then fouled Rubins on the ensuing possession with 10.2 seconds left. Her first foul shot missed, but the second one was true and St. Paul had a 30-26 lead. The Greyhounds missed a 3-pointer on their final possession. Fittingly, Rubins pulled down the rebound to end the game. The Falcons won their third straight game and improved to 5-3.
