Boys’ hoop team eliminated by No. 4 Rockland

Fourth seeded Rockland (18-2) came into the opening round of the Division 3 south sectional basketball playoffs as advertised and made quick work of 13th seeded Canton, cruising to a 69-38 victory in last Tuesday’s battle of the Bulldogs at Rockland High.

Sophomore Tristin Mullen (Mike Barucci photo)

The playoff loss ended Canton’s season at 10-11 as the visiting fans gave a big round of applause to seniors Joe McCabe, Scott Levy, Chris Murray, and Colby Gavigan for their years of success at Canton High. Despite the lopsided score, they were diving for loose balls and hustling right to the last whistle.

Rockland went on to host No. 5 Cardinal Spellman in the quarterfinals Friday night and fell in a heartbreaker 62-60 despite leading by 11 with seven minutes to go in the game.

In the game against Canton, Rockland dominated from the start, jumping out to an 11-0 lead within the first four minutes and a 17-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Rockland extended the lead to 31-11 at the half and 52-24 at the end of the third quarter.

Coming into the game, Rockland’s defense had allowed an average of only 46 points per game. Its plan was to stop both McCabe, Canton’s leading scorer, and promising sophomore forward Sam Larson. Rockland made every shot difficult for both of them while spreading their offense around and taking advantage of the holes in Canton’s zone defense and lack of rebounding strength. Tyler Gibson, a 6’5” junior forward, led the hosts with 16 points, while guard Bryan Tavares and forward Matt Nicolson added 13 and 11 points, respectively.

For Canton, McCabe was the high scorer with 11 points, and fellow senior Demetrius Jean came off the bench to score six points and block a few shots. Gavigan and sophomore reserve forward Tristen Mullen had five points each, followed by Larson and Levy with four points.

After the game, Rockland head coach Fred Damon said, “We challenged everything for every minute. It was one of our top five defensive games we played all year. Give Canton credit: They played hard. But we talked about extending leads, working hard every minute, not letting up, and that’s what our kids did tonight.”

Canton coach Ryan Gordy said there was nothing more that he could have asked of his players. “They are that good a team,” Gordy said of Rockland. “Our kids played their hearts out, but there was nothing they could really do. We tip our hats to them. They are a very professional team.”

“I thank the seniors for great leadership and for embracing me as a first-year coach,” added Gordy. “The underclassmen have big shoes to fill.”

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Mar 7 2012. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.