Bristol Eastern boys improve to 15-4 with 72-53 win over E.O. Smith on Saturday

Posted By: Jack Krampitz February 19, 2024

BRISTOL – The Bristol Eastern boys basketball team had less than 24 hours to absorb a tough 51-47 loss at South Windsor on Friday night and then battled a proven Edwin O. Smith squad in another CCC interdivisional contest on Saturday.

But after that four-point setback to the Bobcats, the Lancers were able to lead wire-to-wire against Smith, securing a 72-53 victory from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium in Bristol.

Eastern (15-4 overall) nabbed a double-figure lead early in the first period, tallying a 29-point quarter, to never trail in the showdown.

“To tell you the truth, I thought we ran our stuff better [against E.O. Smith] than we did last night” against South said Eastern coach Bunty Ray.

“Last night, we were not moving the ball for the extra pass, we were not using the dribble, and we were not filling the middle. So, good for a veteran team to come in the afternoon today, do a quick walkthrough, remind them of the little things that they needed to do and there you go.”

Eastern captains Lukas Sward (20 points) and Brayden Dauphinais (18) combined for 38 points while Jordan Chisholm added 18 points via six three-pointers.

Noah Cordone led Smith (9-10) with 17 points, but the squad’s long-range attack faltered at critical times during the showdown.

And once the Panthers went down by double-figures, there was no turning back.

Eastern led 29-15 after one period of play before setting on a 45-27 cushion at the half.

Smith trimmed the deficit to 12 points in the third tilt but couldn’t sustain the momentum – trailing 55-38 through three.

The Lancers padded their advantage to 23-points early in the fourth quarter and the reserves mopped up in the end, helping the locals to the 72-53 triumph.

To conclude the regular season, Eastern battles crosstown rival Bristol Central tonight at 6 p.m. from the campus of BEHS.

Bristol  Eastern   72       E.O.  Smith   53

E.O. SMITH (9-10):   Cam Belanger  2  0  6,  Jack Sanville  5  2  14, Jaime Lapointe 0  0  0,  Noah Cordone  6  5  17, Levi Zuraw-Fitzgerald 0  0  0,  Connor Ouellette 0  0  0,   Camden Mazerolle 3  1  7,  Joey Baker 3  1  9,  Brendan Kaufield 0  0  0,  Ian Bowles 0  0  0, Sean Baker 0  0  0,  Connor Madore 0  0  0.   Totals:  19    9   53.

BRISTOL EASTERN (15-4): Naseem Walker 0  0  0, Brayden Dauphinais  5  7  18,  Jordan Chisholm  6  0  18, Isaiah Lawrence-Bynum 0  0  0, Zaveyn Tate  0  6  6,  Lukas Sward  8  3  20,  Brady Bell  2  1  5, Ben Kozikowski 0  0  0, Dante DePass 1  0  2,  Ben D’Amato  1  0  3.  Totals:   23    17    72

E.O. Smith:          15    12    11    15   – – – –    53

Bristol Eastern:  29    16    10    17   – – – –   72

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