Bulldog hoopsters cruise to opening round tourney win

Senior captain Devin Foster led the Bulldogs with 29 pts. in their win over Somerset-Berkley. (Mike Barucci photo)

Update: Despite a valiant effort against the section’s top seed, the Bulldogs were eliminated from the D2 south tournament with a 65-58 loss to Randolph on Wednesday night. The team finishes another successful season at 14-10 overall.

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Led by newly crowned Hockomock MVP Devin Foster and with contributions from all of the starters, the 16th seeded CHS boys basketball team advanced to the next round of the Division 2 south playoffs with a 72-56 preliminary round win over No. 17 Somerset-Berkley Monday night at home.

The win set up a matchup with top-seeded Randolph (18-2) on Wednesday night, February 27, at Randolph High.

Monday’s game marked the Bulldogs’ final home contest of the season and they continued their dominance inside the Masciarelli Gym, improving to 29-3 at home over the last three seasons.

Foster, who recently broke CHS basketball’s career scoring record, turned in another stellar performance for the Bulldogs, finishing with 29 points and eight rebounds. A three-time All-Hockomock selection, Foster is the first CHS player and first from the Davenport Division to win overall league MVP honors, according to Gordy.

After falling behind early in the game against Somerset-Berkley, Canton seized control late in the opening quarter and never looked back, leading 38-27 at the half and 59-36 at the end of the third quarter.

Giglio scored 12 points off the bench and Paul Corcoran chipped in with eight points to go along with several rebounds. Kyle Fitzgerald, who missed the regular season finale with an ankle injury, added eight points and five rebounds in his return to the lineup while Ryan Lentol, who was recently named an all-league honorable mention, finished with six points and five rebounds.

Gordy praised his team for shaking off a slow start, which he attributed to “state tournament nerves.” Giglio helped provide an early spark with his three-point shooting and a key defensive steal, and the team got continued strong play in the second quarter from the likes of Corcoran and Robbie Gallery (5 pts.). Gordy also credited Corcoran for a “great defensive job” on leading Raider scorer Liam McDonald.

With the win, Canton improved its overall record to 14-9. Last week, the Bulldogs closed out the regular season with a pair of non-league games, both against teams they had faced earlier this year.

This time, the results were flip-flopped — although once again with the home team emerging victorious — as Canton defeated Bishop Feehan 65-59 before falling on the road to Pentucket Regional 77-64.

The win over Feehan avenged an earlier 35-point loss to the Shamrocks in Attleboro, which Gordy had said was due in part to fatigue after a stretch of five games in eight days. In the rematch, Foster led the way with 27 points while Fitzgerald delivered an outstanding two-way performance, finishing with 17 points and pulling down several rebounds. Lentol also chipped in with nine points in the win.

Two days later at Pentucket, Fitzgerald sat out to rest his ankle and his absence was noticeable, especially on the defensive end. The Sachems (18-2), who nabbed the third seed in the D3 north bracket, jumped out to a big early lead and withstood a few Canton rallies to win by double digits, powered by a strong performance from senior Gus Flaherty, who was injured when the teams first met back on January 27.

Foster and Lentol led the Bulldogs with 20 points each and Eric Mischler finished with 11. Giglio and Gallery chipped in with seven and six points, respectively, while underclassmen reserves Lance Dorcelus and Steve Burbank both saw extended action.

In other team news, former league all-star and 2018 CHS graduate Tony Harris is headed to the NCAA Division III tournament as a member of the Keene State men’s basketball team. Harris has appeared in 20 games as a freshman reserve for the Owls, who recently secured an auto bid to the tournament after winning the Little East Conference title.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Mar 2 2019. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.