Coach calls 1st loss a wake-up call for girls’ hoops team

After suffering its first loss of the season Wednesday night to Abington 59-37, the Canton High School girls’ basketball team quickly bounced back to defeat Innovation Academy 62-11 on Thursday.

Head coach Kaitlin Mills called the Bulldogs first loss of the season a wake-up call. “It was a wake-up call for the girls to realize there are [good] teams beyond the Hockomock League,” Mills said. “If we want to be considered a good team, we have to come prepared to play.”

The loss came in the first round of the Scituate Holiday Tournament — a week after an impressive win over previously undefeated Foxboro. The Bulldogs had eight days to rest in between games and Mills believes the girls were rusty when it came time to play.

“It’s a tough loss for us,” Mills said. “We came off a really good game against Foxboro and having that time off I was a little nervous we would lose focus. We didn’t play very well. We were out of our routine.”

Abington shut down the Bulldogs’ best player, Olivia Murphy, not allowing her to score in the fourth quarter and holding her to only 12 points in the game.

A day later, the Bulldogs did not dwell on the loss but destroyed Innovation Academy by 51 points. In the victory, senior Nicki Fralick scored a team high 13 points and Murphy added 12 in a dominant first-half performance against the weaker Innovation Academy, a team that is playing its first season in the MIAA.

In the second half, sophomores Lauren Berman and Sarah Winkler provided great defense. Berman also scored eight points in the win after missing the Abington game to play in a soccer tournament.

“Everyone played and it was great experience for the entire team,” Mills said.

The Bulldogs had another week off in between games and will play next on Friday against undefeated Mansfield High School.

Mills said she would stress defense in practice this week and focus on defending the post and perimeter because Mansfield has a very good post player guard.

“Coaches are real impressed with our defense and how we are out-hustling other teams,” Mills said.

The Bulldogs are currently 4-1 this season.

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Posted by Tony Catinella on Jan 6 2011. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.