Bristol boys basketball turns pressure up to get past Christopher Dock (VIDEO)

BRISTOL BORO – With his team leading visiting Christopher Dock by eight points and time running out, Bristol junior Parker Kelley received an outlet pass from senior Deonte Harris (21 pts.) and flipped it casually over his head toward the basket.

It was as if Kelley was saying, “now, wasn’t that easy.”

Really, it was anything but.

Locked in a horserace with the Bicentennial Athletic League (BAL) Pioneers Tuesday night (Jan. 26) on their home court, the Warriors turned up the defensive pressure in the last minute and a half to escape with a 61-53 triumph over Dock.

“We’re really bringing it together on defense; that’s what we’re really focusing on now,” said Bristol senior Dom Sica. “We were focused on offense but we really needed to get back to playing Bristol basketball, how it’s supposed to be.”

While the Warriors got eight points in the last period from Harris and four each from Sica (10 pts.), Carter and Parker Kelley (6 pts.), Bristol won the game with its press defense, especially down the stretch.

When the Pioneers imploded with four turnovers in the last 90 seconds, it was ironic as that had been the Warriors’ M.O. earlier in the season when caught in a tight battle.

“They weren’t ready for (our) non-stop attack and they were the ones making those mental mistakes that we were making in the beginning of the year,” stated Bristol head coach Matt Gasper.

“It was good for my guys to see that role reversed – where we could pressure them and cause turnovers and get some easy layups out of it.”

Trailing Dock 47-46 in the fourth quarter, the Warriors registered a 7-point run on back-to-back layups by sophomore Carter Kelley (8 pts.) and Sica and a 3-pointer by Harris.

The Pioneers answered back with pair of field goals by junior Deins Bergis (13 pts.) sandwiched around a free throw by sophomore Miz Nyagwegwe to make it a 1-point game with three minutes remaining.

After dribbling away about 90 seconds, Carter Kelly drew a foul on Dock leading scorer Jared Exler (16 pts.). Carter made 1-of-2 free throws then repeated the feat after a Pioneer miss to put the Warriors up 55-52 with a little over a minute to go.

Exler then got to the line and made 1-of-2 foul shots to close the visitors’ gap to two points with a minute left. However, those would be the last points that Dock would score.

Bristol junior Donnie Garrison (16 pts.) hit a layup off a Pioneer turnover, and after a CD miss, Harris went coast to coast, putting Bristol up, 59-53 with 24 seconds left. Sica closed the scoring out with a pair of made free throws with 15 seconds remaining.

Trailing Dock 19-12 at the end of the first quarter, the Warriors closed the gap to two points at the half on a pull-up 3-pointer by Parker Kelley with three seconds left in the second period. Bristol got a pair of field goals each from Harris, Garrison and Sica.

Using a 3-point play by Bergis and a field goal by junior Nick Schnable, the Pioneers opened the second half with a 5-2 run that had them on top 35-30 midway through the third period.

The Warriors answered with a 6-point run of their own, a scoring spurt capped by a Garrison layup off a feed from Parker Kelley and a Dock turnover to take a 36-35 edge with 3:21 remaining in the third period.

The Pioneers tallied the next three buckets however, scoring on a coast-to-coast layup by Bergis, a driving layup by Nyagwegwe and a backdoor layup by Exler to take a 41-36 edge.

Bristol closed the thri quarter out with a 5-point run. First, Harris fed Parker Kelley for an easy basket then senior Adrian Ellerbe fed Harris for a 3-point play that tied the score at 41-all heading into the final frame.

The final flurry in the third period seemed to gas the opponent.

“I think we kind of wore them down late in the game,” said Gasper. “Once the fourth quarter started, you kind of saw them sink down a little bit.

While Bristol used its press defense to force Dock into making turnovers, the Warriors went only half-court with the press.

“We didn’t want to go full-court because we know we have a short bench and we knew that would tire us out,” stated Gasper. “As soon as they got over half-court, we knew they were heavy right-handed so we made them go left and turned up a lot more half-court pressure where they have less space to move.

“That definitely benefitted us with them dribbling off their feet and we got a few steals off of it and some easy layups.”

For Bristol, the win marked the second in as many games against a league rival. The Warriors nipped MaST Charter 44-43 at the buzzer Jan. 22 also on their home court.

Harris accounted for just seven points in the win over the Panthers but Bristol got double digits from Parker Kelley (15 pts.) and Garrison (11) and eight more from Sica.

“We’re working on spreading the ball around more because we know that the beginning of the year, we tried to go 1-on-5 and we weren’t winning any games,” explained Gasper.

“Now, we’re starting to pass the ball more and get comfortable with each other and now, we’re starting to win more.”

“Our coaches really know how to break down the other team’s defense, so we knew what to do; it changes up our strategy for each game,” added Sica. “In that game, Parker was the one getting open. All we had to do was set the back straight and he did the rest.”

After dropping back-to-back games to Lower Moreland and Holy Ghost Prep by a combined 61 points, Bristol has seemingly gotten its act back together since then.

“We got hit in the mouth pretty bad by Lower Moreland and Holy Ghost and they kind of felt that coming away,” stated Gasper. “Then I reminded them that we’re still in the playoff hunt and that gave them that last-season boost.

“They know they have something to play for.”

NOTES: Dock junior Justin Burkholder (13 pts.) hit four 3-pointers in the game including three in the first half when he accounted for a third of his team’s points. After the intermission, the Warriors limited the 11th-grader to a single trey. CD freshman Jackson Scialanca registered a 4-point play in the second period on a 3-pointer and ensuing free throw, his only points in the contest.

Contact the author at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com, or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter

Bristol 61, Christopher Dock 53

(Jan. 26 at Bristol)

Christopher Dock 19 11 11 12 – 53

Bristol                       12 16 13 20 – 61

CHRISTOPHER DOCK – Justin Burkholder 13, Deins Bergis 13, Miz Nyagwegwe 4, Nick Schnable 3, Jackson Scialanca 4, Jared Exler 16; TOTALS – 19 10-18 53.

BRISTOL – Parker Kelley 6, Ronnie Garrison 16, Dom Sica 10, Deonte Harris 21, Carter Kelley 8; TOTALS – 25 9-16 61.

3-POINT GOALS: CD – Burkholder 4, Scialanci; B – Parker Kelley, Harris.