Boys’ hoop team drops season opener to Sharon

Not enough offense spoiled a good defensive effort by the CHS varsity basketball team as the Sharon Eagles raised its record to 2-0 with a 53-36 win over the Bulldogs at Canton’s home opener Friday night.

Three nights earlier, Sharon opened its season with an 88-80 win over Medford.

Canton played its best basketball of the night, opening a 15-6 lead, before ending the first quarter at 15-12. The Bulldogs’ offensive problems were evident in the second quarter when they tallied only five points, and Sharon took the lead 22-20 at the end of the third quarter.

The Bulldogs were still in the game trailing 32-28 after three quarters, but the Eagles streaked to a 15-0 run at the beginning of the fourth quarter, upping their lead to 49-30 with just under four minutes remaining in the game. Sharon’s Eric Bennett was a problem all night for the Bulldogs, scoring 22 points (14 in the first half).

Canton’s best jump shooter, junior Joe McCabe, was on crutches with a leg injury, but could return within a week. His absence hurt, as Sharon coach Bruce Jackman switched his man-to-man defense to a 2-3 match-up zone and essentially shut off the inside drives, forcing Canton to shoot from the outside.

“For some reason we were reluctant to shoot the ball, especially in the second half, and it hurt us,” CHS head coach Mike Devoll said. “Sharon controlled the tempo and their zone shut us down. We were not aggressive on offense after the first quarter and we didn’t penetrate enough.”

Sophomore guard Jaden Mason and senior forward Dominique Purvis briefly revived the Canton offense with six points at the end of the third quarter.

High scorers for Canton were junior guard Chris Murray and junior forward Colby Gavigan, each with seven points. Senior center Wade Ransom and senior forwards Josh Sheehan and Purvis each had four points.

Junior guard Scott Levy, who was out for half the season last year with an ankle problem, returned to play point guard and played well, showing good defense and a good command of the game, Except for Sharon’s 15-0 offensive streak, the Canton defense played well with solid performances by Murray, Levy, Ransom, Sheehan and Gavigan.

Other players on the Canton roster include freshman Eric Wong, senior Tyler Briggs, junior Jakiel Moses-Harris, junior Anthony Bires, senior Alex Chery, and seniors DaQuan Pendarvis and Michael Charles.

The Bulldogs were scheduled to travel to Foxboro on Tuesday (December 21) and Old Rochester on December 28.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Dec 23 2010. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.