Tough week for girls’ basketball team

It’s been a trying past few weeks for the Canton High girls’ basketball team, and last week the struggles continued as the Bulldogs dropped back-to-back games to North Attleboro and King Philip to fall to 3-5 overall.

Freshman Gabby Kenefick

The team has now lost five of its last six games and is currently in the midst of a three-game losing streak, with all three losses coming against teams in the Hockomock’s large school (Kelly-Rex) division.

The Bulldogs have also been playing without their top playmaker and floor general, senior point guard Alana Pitts-Anaya, who is sidelined with an ankle injury. Freshman Eileen Khoury has started in her place and is “doing the best she can,” according to head coach Caitlin Jamiel.

However, the entire team has struggled as of late, and last Tuesday’s game at North Attleboro signified the low point as the Bulldogs were overwhelmed by the Red Rocketeers in a 61-28 blowout loss.

Jamiel characterized the defeat as a total-team failure, although she also gave credit to the NA players, who dominated every phase of the game from start to finish.

“North Attleboro is a very, very good team,” said Jamiel. “They’re definitely the strongest team we’ve played so far in the Hockomock League.”

King Philip, on the other hand, has had its own share of struggles this season, and the Bulldogs turned in a much better performance against the Warriors in a 48-45 loss Friday night at home.

The first three quarters belonged to KP, which built leads of 11-8, 22-17 and 38-28 before the Bulldogs found their stride in the fourth, scoring 17 points to get within a basket of forcing overtime.

“It was definitely a game we should have won,” said Jamiel. “Our girls wanted it so bad and they never gave up.”

Senior Olivia Murphy had yet another dominant performance with a team-high 19 points and 17 rebounds, while Kristen Burns had her most productive game of the season, finishing with 10 points and five rebounds.

Jamiel said it was clear how the game was lost as the team missed a staggering 21 free throws and also turned the ball over far too many times. Both are issues that have plagued the Bulldogs all season; however, she considers both to be fixable problems and is confident the team will improve in those areas moving forward.

“Once we get those two things taken care of, this season will be a complete turnaround,” Jamiel said.

This week, the Bulldogs get a break from Kelly-Rex opponents and instead were due to face two teams in their own division: first-place Oliver Ames (7-1) on Tuesday and at Stoughton (4-4) Friday night at 6:30 p.m.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Jan 18 2012. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.