Party at the Marty, Windham basketball surges past Bristol with 37-2 run

WINDHAM — The Bombers couldn't believe it.

A 37-2 run to end the game.

Wait, what?

"37-2?" senior Lucas Churchill replied when asked about Windham's game-defining run, almost in disbelief. "That's crazy. I had no idea."

Churchill kept looking at the scorebook as sophomore Carlos Bruton talked.

"Chase dropped 30," Churchill said in shock when he realized how much his fellow senior, Chase Eye, had scored.

As Eye strolled over, Churchill had a request:

"Can you tell him this crazy news you just told me?"

A 37-2 Windham run that turned a four-point deficit late in the third into a 31-point victory?

"Oh my God," said Eye, who led all scorers Tuesday with 30 points.

Bruton, Churchill, Eye and the Bombers were like kids opening up presents on Christmas morning after Tuesday's contest.

Against a Bristol team that twice beat Windham by double-digits last season, the Bombers exploded Tuesday for an 86-55 Northeastern Athletic Conference victory.

"It means a lot to me and my teammates, because it's been a long time since we beat this team," Eye said. "It means a lot. We wanted to make sure we came out with high energy, just play fast, high energy, all that stuff."

In a back-and-forth game that featured massive runs from the start — with a 15-0 Bombers run and an 11-0 Panthers run in the first quarter alone — Windham went on the greatest rampage of all, turning a 53-49 deficit with 11 minutes remaining into a big win with 23 straight points (and 37 out of the final 39).

"We were just in the zone," Bruton said. "Coach told us to keep going, so that's what we did."

Windham's 23-0, 37-2 runs start with an odd shot or two

The run got off to an auspicious start.

With the Panthers leading 53-49 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Bombers air-balled a 3-pointer but senior Zack Turk (12 points, 6 assists) was there for the putback to draw within two.

The next shot was on the auspicious side as well, as Bruton (17 points) banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to put the home team in front (54-53), then split a pair from the line.

The end of the third featured another unusual looking play, as Churchill pushed in from the left wing before heaving a pass to Eye, who knocked down the buzzer-beating 3 from a smidgen right of the top of the arc for a 58-53 lead.

"I'm glad he was open," Churchill said. "I thought I was going to get a travel call. I didn't know who was open. I saw him out of the corner of my eye, passed it to him and he just pulled it at the buzzer."

Windham's run was just getting started.

Churchill, who had one technical foul and zero points in the first half, was unstoppable in the second, when he scored all 16 of his points.

The senior sharpshooter was particularly unstoppable in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, when he ripped a pair of 3-pointers from the left wing to push the Bombers' lead to 64-53.

"My coach just told me to have confidence when I shoot and they'll start just dropping," Churchill said. "So I tell myself every time before I shoot, 'I know this is going in.'"

Bruton, who had 12 of his 17 points after halftime, added a steal by Windham's bench and a spot-up jumper from the top of the key to push the lead to 13 (66-53).

The hits kept coming in front of a delirious crowd.

Windham sophomore Jack Eye cut off a Bristol pass, then snagged the ricochet of a missed 3-pointer from Bruton and dished post-to-post to his older brother, Chase, who hit the ensuing layup through contact, then added the free throw for a 69-53 advantage. The older Eye followed with a steal, nearly lost control as he zoomed inside the arc, regained his composure and heaved a pass to Turk for a 3-pointer to cap a 23-0 run.

Croc Thorp broke the cold snap for the Panthers with a layup with 5:05 remaining, but the Bombers followed with the last 14 points of the night.

That included a beautiful Eye-to-Eye baseline inbound (Chase to Jack), a Turk-to-Eye (Chase) dish for a corner 3 and four late points from Dylan McCune off the bench.

For all of its offensive highlights Tuesday, Windham won largely by prevailing in the gritty aspects of the game, from forcing multiple 10-second violations with their press to Turk stuffing multiple Bristol fast breaks with blocks to Jack Eye and Turk wreaking havoc on the boards.

"Thankfully, our defense and our pressure with our guards and then our back guys reading passes and things like that, shooting gaps, I think finally got to them enough where their shooting started to cool off," Bombers coach Cody Apthorpe said. "Which allowed us to get on top and then stay on top."

Bristol, Windham get off to an electrifying start

After all, Tuesday started out as a whirlwind.

Indeed, the Panthers started the game with a 10-3 run, the Bombers answered with 15 straight points and then Bristol scored 11 in a row.

And that was all in a first quarter that saw the teams combine for 45 points (25-20 Panthers) with the visitors shooting 11-of-15 from the field.

Indeed, Bristol's Kaiden Kohler didn't even miss a field goal in the first half, making all five of his attempts from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers, for 13 points by the intermission, at which point the Panthers led 41-35.

"That's I was telling our guys, I don't feel like we lost the momentum," Apthorpe said. "They just were making some very clutch shots early that allowed them to hang around and hang around and hang around."

Mikey Burbach (14 points) was no less problematic, with his 6-4 frame causing problems for a Windham team that doesn't have a ton of height. Burbach's five third-quarter points included a 3-pointer that gave Bristol a 3-point lead midway through the third. Trevor Mendenhall, who also finished in double figures for the Panthers, pushed the lead to four with a transition layup (53-49).

That's when Windham's run began.

First, with an airball and a putback.

Then with a 3-pointer off the glass.

And before long, the Bombers were rolling full steam ahead.

"Credit to [Bristol], they are consistently a team who every night they play, they're going to play hard," Apthorpe said. "It doesn't matter what their previous week looked like. When they show up for a game, they're never going to lay down, and I really give credit to our guys to win that battle and be able to withstand that physical and mental fatigue that happens throughout the course of the game, and that's a huge credit to them."

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Windham basketball surges past Bristol with 37-2 run