The Bristol Central girls basketball team is off to a 2-0 start after a convincing 44-25 road win over city rival Bristol Eastern on Monday night.
The win is the first for the Rams over the Lancers since the 2022-23 season, when they swept the Bell City series. Eastern won both games last season.
Central is led by Nicole Riemer, who averaged a team-high 18.1 points per game last season as a sophomore. She was an All-CCC South selection for the first time.
Riemer is a known commodity for the Rams, but a new addition may just make the Rams more dangerous this season. Kamaria Bowens, a junior transfer from Windsor High (also from the Central Connecticut Conference), has deep outside range, according to a preview written by Michael Letendre of Bell City Sports. Bowens scored nine points in a 37-31 loss to Simsbury in a Class L quarterfinal game last season. The Trojans went on to defeat Holy Cross to win the state championship.
Bowens led Windsor with 19 points when it defeated Northwest Catholic-West Hartford, 66-52, to win the CCC tournament. The Warriors were the No. 12 seed and beat three of the state’s Top 10-ranked teams on the way to the CCC championship. Bowens played for Morris Catholic High School in New Jersey as a freshman before moving on to Windsor and playing for the Warriors beginning midway through last season.
Riemer and Bowens are joined by fellow junior Molly McMahon. They are the three elder stateswomen on the roster, which doesn’t have a senior.
Central is led by head coach Steve Gaudet. The Rams will be playing in the reconfigured CCC Central Division, which also includes Eastern, Avon, Bloomfield, Conard-West Hartford, Farmington, Hall-West Hartford, Lewis Mills, Northwest Catholic and Simsbury.
