Boys’ hoop team earns first win vs. Pembroke

With more balanced scoring and a good defensive effort, the CHS boys’ basketball team broke into the win column this season with a 64-59 victory over nonleague Pembroke last Friday night in the Titans’ home gym.

Junior Sam Larson (Mike Barucci photo)

The two teams were also due to face each other Wednesday night, January 2, in Canton’s first home game of the season. The Bulldogs are now 1-3 on the young season, which started with four straight road games.

Head coach Ryan Gordy has been looking for someone other than leading scorer Sam Larson to help on offense, and on Friday the team responded with 20 points from junior guard Matt Kelley, 10 points from senior center Andrew Mansfield, seven points from junior forward Tristen Mullen, and six points from junior guard Ato Botsio.

This combined with Larson’s 20 points allowed the Bulldogs to lead from start to finish. Canton led 13-7 at the end of the first quarter, 33-23 at the half, and 45-35 after three quarters.

With Larson plagued by early foul trouble, Kelley and Mullen stepped up in the first half with Kelley hitting for 17 points on strong outside shooting and Mullen adding to the offense with his seven points.

Gordy started Kelley and Botsio at the guards, Mullen and Larson at the forwards, and Mansfield at center, and this unit worked well both offensively and defensively throughout the game. Dexter Green, Paul Swart, Brandon Pulido, and Scott Olshaker played well coming off the bench.

The second half was led by Larson, who scored 18 of his 20 points, and Mansfield, who rebounded, blocked shots and added his 10 points as the Bulldogs showed improvement in their offensive game plan.

Still, while pleased with the improvement, Gordy said the offense needs more work.

“We are better now than at the beginning of the season, but we have a long way to go,” he said. “We still are not crisp and we are not passing well, and we need to do a better job with our screens. But we are very happy with our first win. Having a few scorers besides Sam really makes a difference.”

The Bulldogs enter a stretch of four consecutive home games, beginning with Pembroke on Wednesday and continuing this Friday against Attleboro with a Youth Night for CRBA teams. Other upcoming home games are Tuesday, January 8, against Sharon, and Friday, January 11, against Stoughton. All home games start at 6:30 p.m.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Jan 3 2013. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.