Bristol keeps Kirtland in check with defense

The Panthers will play for the district championship on Friday.
By DOUG CHAPIN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MIDDLEFIELD -- The high-scoring Bristol boys basketball team showed on Tuesday night it can play defense too.
The Panthers, ranked third in the final Associated Press state poll, dispatched Kirtland, 65-49, in a Division IV district semifinal at Cardinal High School.
Tendencies: "We're known as a fast-paced, up-tempo team," Bristol coach Scott Groves said. "We knew Kirtland wanted to play in the 50s or 60s, so we told the kids we could play at Kirtland's pace if we could shut down their inside game.
"Kirtland's strength is the inside game and we made them shoot outside. I didn't think they could keep up with us shooting outside."
The Hornets (10-13) went shot-for-shot with Bristol in the first quarter, rallying from a 9-0 deficit to trail 18-17. Kirtland continued to stay with the Panthers, trailing 26-24 three minutes into the second quarter, but Bristol put together a 10-2 run the rest of the quarter for a 36-26 halftime lead.
Junior Craig Giesy scored eight of his game-high 28 points in that span. He also contributed five steals to the Panthers' cause. Senior point guard John King added 13 points and eight rebounds and Sam Ratcliffe had seven steals and six rebounds.
Something to prove: "We were a little embarrassed how we rebounded against Southington," Groves said about the Panthers' first tournament game. "Our two big keys tonight were post defense and rebounding. We thought if we won those two areas, things would go in our favor."
Bristol ended up with a 31-30 edge on the boards and, as usual, won the turnover battle, committing just 12 to Kirtland's 25.
The Hornets, who upset third-seeded Mogadore in the first round, scored the first five points of the third quarter to creep within 36-31. Bristol got the lead back out to 12 a couple times in the quarter before settling for a 46-37 advantage at the buzzer.
The Panthers put together a 13-2 run in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter to open the lead to 59-39. Giesy had eight points in the run and King added five. Kirtland never got closer than the final score.
"I think we can play better, I don't think we played nearly our best game all around," Groves said. "But we had a game plan and stuck to it and I'm happy with that."
Awaiting opponent: Bristol (21-1) plays in the district championship game Friday night against the winner of tonight's game between Windham and Newbury.
"I'm not rooting for anyone in tonight's game," Groves said, "but a lot of fans would like to see a Bristol-Windham game. We're mirror images of each other. It would be two great teams and you'd just throw the ball up and let the chips fall where they may."