Girls’ hoop team tops Attleboro to end 5-game skid

After dropping five straight games and falling several games below .500, the Canton High girls’ basketball team finally found its way back in the win column with a hard-fought, 42-41 victory over Attleboro last Wednesday at home. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they then had to travel to undefeated Franklin, where they gave it their all in a 71-37 defeat.

Kyshani Dumott (Mike Barucci photo)

The 1-1 week brought the team’s record to 4-8 overall with eight games remaining. Canton can still make the playoffs if it can string together some wins over the final three weeks of the regular season.

Despite the Bulldogs’ up-and-down season thus far, the one constant has been the play of senior forward Olivia Murphy, and last week against Attleboro she was her usual dominant self, finishing with a team-high 20 points and 10 rebounds.

The team ended up needing every one of her points, as the Bombardiers hung around until the final buzzer after being down by as many as nine in the third quarter.

According to head coach Caitlin Jamiel, a big key to the win was the play of junior Kyshani Dumott, who continued a string of outstanding performances with one of her best games to date.

“She just has so much heart and soul and was really the spark for our team,” Jamiel said of Dumott. “I was just so happy with the way she played; you could just feel her spirit on the court and on the sidelines.”

For the game, Dumott finished with nine points and six rebounds. She also played excellent defense and helped shut down one of the opponent’s best players.

The Bulldogs did not fare as well on Friday against the vaunted Panthers; however, they battled hard and only trailed by ten at halftime.

“We put forth as much effort as we could,” said Jamiel after the game. “I could not have been happier with how they were playing in the first half.”

The second half turned into a blowout as the Panthers started shooting the lights out of the ball, but Jamiel used it as an opportunity to get her reserves some playing time and was impressed with their overall effort and poise.

Amazingly, Murphy still managed to finish with 20 points despite being double-teamed for most of the game. The team also got a solid performance out of starting point guard Alana Pitts-Anaya, who returned to action after missing the past few games with an ankle injury.

This week, the Bulldogs had three games on the schedule, and Jamiel said their goal was to win all three, beginning with an away game on Tuesday versus Sharon. They were also due to host Norwood on Wednesday and Foxboro on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Feb 1 2012. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.