Canton point guard scores 16 to lead Bulldogs past KP

The Canton girls’ basketball team erased a ten-point third quarter deficit to bounce back and defeat King Philip 75-65 Friday night.

Junior point guard Alana Pitts-Anaya started the Bulldogs’ rally with solid defense and finished the game with 16 points, shooting 12-15 from the free throw line and adding five assists.

Although Canton led by four points at halftime, the Bulldogs struggled in the third quarter and fell behind by as many as ten before rebounding in the fourth to secure the win.

“We out-shot them and out-hustled them in the fourth quarter,” coach Katlin Mills said.

Lauren Berman had 15 points, shooting 3-4 from the three-point line with four steals in the Bulldog victory.

Olivia Murphy was the Bulldogs’ leading scorer and had another double-double, scoring 22 points and collecting 14 rebounds. She has played every minute in the last two games and was the Bulldogs’ leading scorer in each of them.

“The thing I love about Olivia is that she is a game player,” Mills said. “She comes to play. She goes after every rebound and dives on the floor. She’ll do anything — she’ll run through a wall for the team. She out-hustles everyone.”

On Tuesday, Murphy battled larger defenders and still played well in the Bulldogs’ 63-52 loss to North Attleboro. Murphy had 20 points, 17 rebounds, and four blocks for Canton but the Bulldog defense allowed the most points they have allowed at home all season.

“North Attleboro is an experienced team,” Mills said. “They were very young last year so their starting five is bigger, faster, stronger.”

The Bulldogs struggled all night guarding NA guard Jessica Cullen, who had 19 points in the game.

NA led by nine points at the half and later led by as many as 20 points.

“We had moments of good basketball, we had moments of not having strong inside rebounding,” Mills said. “Our inexperience kind of showed through on Tuesday night.”

With the win and loss this week, the Bulldogs are now 5-3 on the season.

The Bulldogs continue to battle through the season even with key injuries. Senior captain Nikki Fralick has missed the last two games with torn ligaments in her ankle and is expected to be back by the end of February.

“It’s affected the team because she is a leader for us,” Mills said. “We’re missing her a lot, especially on defense.”

Berman has stepped up in place of the absent Fralick, scoring 13 points with six assists and five steals on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs were scheduled to play at Oliver Ames this Tuesday and then return home on Friday to battle Stoughton.

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Posted by Tony Catinella on Jan 20 2011. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.