Boys’ hoop team earns solid win vs. NA

The CHS boys’ basketball team finally got a game where they could dictate the tempo, and it paid off as the Bulldogs earned a convincing road win over North Attleboro Friday night to improve their overall record to 5-10.

Junior Matt Kelley (Mike Barucci photo)

The 50-41 win was also their second of the season against an opponent in the Hockomock League’s large school division, with the other one coming January 4 against Attleboro.

In Friday’s game, the Bulldogs pulled out to a 14-11 first-quarter lead and pushed it to 26-19 at the half. Junior captain Sam Larson scored 15 points in the first half and finished with 22 for the game despite missing time in the third quarter due to an eye injury.

The Red Rocketeers (2-13) managed to close the gap to 46-41 with 1:32 remaining, but the Bulldogs scored the final five points of the game off free throws to seal the victory.

Junior captain Tristin Mullen was Canton’s second leading scorer with 12 points, including two three-point shots down the stretch. Mullen and senior Dexter Green played solid defense, and Green added seven points with several offensive and defensive rebounds.

Also excelling on both ends of the court was 6’6” senior captain Andrew Mansfield, who scored seven points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and blocked five shots.

Sophomore point guard Paul Swart also did a nice job in limiting turnovers, and his improved play overall has not gone unnoticed by the coaches.

“If we keep our turnovers to around 11 and our defense keeps a team to 50 or less points, we have a very good chance of winning that game,” said head coach Ryan Gordy. “[Swart] has a lot to do with that … He’s improved every game, and now you can see he is our point guard and that’s his position.”

Earlier in the week, Swart helped propel Canton to a 28-21 halftime lead over second-place Oliver Ames (8-4) before leaving to attend a mandatory confirmation meeting. Swart’s absence had a noticeable impact as the Bulldogs committed several turnovers down the stretch, lost the momentum and then the lead in an eventual 60-49 loss.

Canton led the Tigers by as many as 11 points when OA coach Don Byron called a timeout with around seven remaining in the third quarter. By the end of the third, the Tigers had cut the deficit to 38-36, and then they completed the comeback in the fourth, capped off by a succession of free throws to push the lead to double digits.

Larson finished with a team-high 17 points in the losing effort, and Mullen added 12 points.

After the game, Byron said his team was still reeling from the loss of an OA classmate — senior wrestling captain Devin Ness, who died suddenly from an aneurysm on January 25. “Their heads were somewhere else and that’s very understandable,” he said.

Byron also gave credit to the Bulldogs, noting that they have a “nice style” and that Coach Gordy “has them tuned in.”

“They use the entire shot clock, so you have to play a full 30 seconds of defense,” he said. “They played us tough the first time, and they were tough down to the end tonight. We are happy to get out of here with a win, but Canton is a vastly improved team.”

The Bulldogs now have four games remaining in the regular season, including an away game tomorrow versus Sharon. The team will then travel to Stoughton next Tuesday before closing out the regular season at home against Foxboro on February 15 and Fairhaven on February 18. Canton must win one of the final two games in order to qualify for the Division 3 playoffs.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Feb 7 2013. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.