Bristol boys basketball drops third straight at MaST Charter

Bristol senior Ronnie Garrison (10), left, scored 21 points for the Warriors Friday night at MaST Charter. It wasn’t enough, however, as the Panthers went on to a 60-48 triumph in boys basketball. (Steve Sherman – 21st-Century Media file photo)

PHILADELPHIA – “Oh, brother!”

Like one of my former Phillies favorite color commentators used to say.

What is going on with Bristol basketball?

A week earlier, the Warriors were ranked No. 2 in the District 1 Class AA power rankings. But after three consecutive losses to Bicentennial Athletic League (BAL) rivals Christopher Dock, DelCo Christian and now, MaST Charter, Bristol has dropped down to the fourth seed.

Only the top four make it to the postseason!

Trailing the Panthers in this one 35-34 midway through the third quarter, MC senior Shane Henehan hit back-to-back 3-pointers to expand the Panthers’ lead to seven points. That seemed to open things up for classmate Matt Carter, who added a pair of treys of his own before the end of the third period.

For the game, held on Senior Night, Friday night, Feb. 3 at MC, Carter hit for a game-high 24 points, including six 3-pointers, helping MaST to its 16th win of the season.

“When those two get hot, they’re hot,” said Panthers head coach Dan Tirendi. “One feeds off the other.

“When Matt (Carter) starts feeling it, then Shane starts feeling it; when Shane (Henehan) starts feeling it, Matt starts feeling it.”

“It opens everything up or us, too. You can’t focus on just one guy. You have to focus on both.

“When they’re both scoring, we’re a good team.”

Indeed.

The duo registered 42 of MaST Charter’s 60 points in the game and all 23 of 29 of the points the Panthers tallied in the second half when the battle was decided.

“Number 22 (Matt Carter), he was on fire, we couldn’t stop him,” said Bristol senior Ronnie Garrison, who led the Warriors with 21 points. “We tried to throw stuff at him – tried to faceguard him, try to cut him off – we couldn’t do anything.”

“We focused so much on him, that kind of left other players open.”

To be fair, if Bristol seems to be a mere semblance of itself this week, that’s because it is. Samir Brisbon, Alex Jerbo and Anthony McClinton were suspended for the Dock and DelCo games for coming off the bench in what really wasn’t much of a melee at all a week ago in a Bristol win at home over Morrisville.

Adding insult to injury, brothers Parker and Carter Kelley – the Warriors point guard – were absent from last Friday night’s duel at MaST Charter. Bristol coach Matt Gasper said he could not comment as to why, adding that all personnel losses are detrimental to the Warriors.

“Whenever you lose anyone, it’s going to hurt the team, regardless of who it is,” said Gasper. “Anytime you lose a player, you lose their roster spot, you lose their energy and their motivation in practice.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a starter or a bench guy who cheers everybody on; every loss hurts.”

If Bristol is to salvage its season, it must regroup in time to win at least two of its last three games. The Warriors face Valley Forge Military Academy Tuesday, Feb. 7 Jenkintown on Thursday, Feb. 9 and Collegium next Saturday, Feb. 11.

MaST Charter 60, Bristol 48

(February 3 at MaST Charter)

MaST Charter 11 20 16 13 – 60

Bristol 15 13 9 11 – 48

BRISTOL (9-10) — Jarvis Zyvonoski 3, Marcus Jones 8, Austin Funair 3, Ronnie Garrison 21, Dayeshawn Cortez 9, Samir Brisbon 4; TOTALS — 19 6-14 48.

MaST CHARTER (16-5) — Calvin White 1, Greg Weneclawiak 4, Justin Scott 4, Shane Henehan 18, Luke Harrington 9, Matt Carter 24; TOTALS — 24 3-7 60.

3-POINT GOALS: B — Zyvonoski, Garrison 2, Funair; MC — Henehan 2, Harrington, Carter 6.