Bristol sticks with it to beat Champion
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CHAMPION -- There are simply nights a basketball team feels as if it's swimming upstream. The Bristol boys battled that feeling for most of the night at Champion on Saturday.
That is, until the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel appeared as the Panthers took a lead late in the fourth quarter before pulling away for an 82-74 victory in non-conference action.
"The whole first half, it seemed like we couldn't get a bounce," Bristol coach Craig Giesy said. "The referees were doing a good job, but it seemed like we couldn't get a call. It seemed like nothing was going our way. In the second half, (Champion guard Lucas) Nasonti caught fire and (Champion post Drake) Batcho got every rebound he wanted.
"To our boys' credit, they grinded it out. They played a grind-it-out game. I'm really proud of their effort."
The Panthers (9-1) had trailed by seven, 49-42, following a basket by Batcho and a 3-pointer from Noah Bayus with 6:30 to play in the third period. Batcho's bucket later put the Golden Flashes (5-6) up eight, 51-43, at the six-minute mark.
"Drake Batcho was a big part of it for us tonight," Champion coach Jamie Carrino said. "He was a force down low. Lucas really took care of the basketball. He played a great game. We just came up a little short. At the end of the day, it's really about effort. Those guys on the court gave everything they have. The effort they gave tonight was better than it's been for the last two weeks, or really since the Kennedy game."
A 10-2 Bristol run -- during which Tommy Donadio connected on a 3-pointer and converted a conventional three-point play -- knotted the score, 53-53, with just less than three minutes left in the quarter. Nasonti, though, netted the last five points -- on his way to 13 in the period -- of the third and Champion led, 64-61, with eight minutes to play.
Nasonti (3-pointer) and Batcho (a bucket from the paint) teamed up once more and pushed the Golden Flashes' lead to six, 72-66, midway through the fourth. It was at that point, however, the Panthers' eased their own sledding.
"They did a good job of finding the open player and making the pass," Giesy said. "We did a very poor job of pressuring the ball. We gave them the opportunity to see the floor."
Two 3-pointers from Donadio and a tally from Bryan Gabrielson gave Bristol a 74-72 edge with 2:52 remaining. Phil Aliberti's only bucket in the contest pushed the lead to four following another Champion turnover.
"Once we got the lead, we were able to control the game," Giesy said. "They had control of it for most of the fourth, but we kept sticking around, sticking around. Finally, we got that lead and we executed down the stretch. Tommy kept us in it at points. He had a heck of a game."
The Panthers were 6 of 8 from the charity stripe while the Golden Flashes went cold in the final 1:08 to close out the win.
"Those turnovers (hurt) and we have to get a hand in the shooters' faces," Carrino said. "They shot the ball well. We didn't close all the way out on their shooters. They have good shooters.
"The Bristol kids always play hard as long as I've known them. I actually coached the seniors when they were in middle school. That style is what they're used to. That's their style of play."
Nasonti led a quartet of scorers with at least 24 points in the game, netting 35, 28 of those (15 in the second) in the middle two periods. Batcho used his 10 third-quarter points to total 24 in the contest.
Gabrielson used 11 fourth-quarter points to total 28 while Donadio hit seven triples to net his 28 points.