CHS girls’ hoops team readies for the postseason

With a 45-31 victory over Bedford last Monday night, the Canton High girls’ basketball team clinched a spot in the Division 3 state tournament.

With a younger and more improved team this year, the Bulldogs have focused their offense around junior leading scorer Olivia Murphy.

Against Bedford, Murphy scored 10 points and collected 16 rebounds and four blocks, and senior captain Nikki Fralick added 10 points of her own as the Bulldogs improved to 2-0 against the Buccaneers this season.

Last week’s win was the Bulldogs’ eighth of the season, are there are still three more games remaining. By comparison, last year’s team finished with a 6-14 mark before losing in the first round of the tournament to the second seed, Jeremiah Burke School (Dorchester).

On Monday, Canton came out strong and led by 20 at the half. In the second half, Murphy injured her finger and sat out the entire fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs were still able to roll to victory.

“We came out strong and were pretty consistent,” head coach Kaitlin Mills said.

Mills called the win a “confidence booster” as her team was able to step up and produce without their leading scorer. She added that Murphy’s finger should be fine moving forward.

“It forced other kids to step it up and be a leader out there when it came to shooting and scoring,” Mills said after the win.

In other action last week, the Bulldogs struggled against Hock opponents Sharon and Oliver Ames, losing both games by a combined 42 points.

On Wednesday, the Bulldogs struggled in a makeup game against the Eagles, falling 61-40 at home. Sharon shut down the Canton offense and focused on stopping Murphy, who was triple-teamed but still put up another double-double with 17 points and 16 rebounds.

On Friday, the girls were outplayed by OA in a 69-48 defeat.

“They were a very athletically sound team,” Mills said of the Tigers.

Murphy led Canton with 27 points and 15 rebounds, while junior point guard Alana Pitts-Anaya added 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals.

The Bulldogs are now 8-8 and are focused on finishing the season above .500.

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Posted by Tony Catinella on Feb 16 2011. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.