Girls’ hoop team falls to No. 2 Norwell in tourney

The CHS girls’ hoop team fell 65-50 to second seeded Norwell last Thursday in tournament play.

“The Norwell game was a battle,” Canton head coach Kaitlin Mills said. “They had a lot of height,” she added.

Brenda Diggins, a 6’2” sophomore, hurt the Bulldogs in the paint with her rebounding, shot blocking and scoring.

Still, the Bulldogs were only down five at the midway point (26-21).

“We stayed with them in the first half,” Mills said.

“Olivia Murphy kept us alive in the first half with points in the paint, and Julianna Strahan stepped it up, hitting a three and a nice outside jumper to keep us in the game,” Mills added.

Norwell played tough defense throughout the game, making it difficult for the Bulldogs to get into a rhythm.

Norwell’s point guard put the pressure on Canton’s point guard Alana Pitts-Anaya. Mills said that the pressure “affected the flow of our offensive game.”

The Bulldogs came out in the second half trying to concentrate on stopping Diggins in the paint. The focus the Bulldogs put on defending the post game led to open shooters on the perimeter and Norwell capitalized, hitting several three-pointers.

The Bulldogs’ shots were not falling in the second half like they were in the first. Their poor shooting, combined with Norwell’s high shooting percentage, resulted in Norwell pulling away.

They maintained a 20-point lead through most of the second half, resulting in the 65-50 Norwell win.

“I was very proud of the team because we never gave up,” Mills said. “They played tough defense until the last second ticked off the clock.”

Overall, it was a successful season for the Bulldogs. They finished the year with a record of 11-10, which is the first winning season the program has had in many years.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Mar 10 2011. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.