Boys’ basketball team upsets OA
By Mike BergerCHS basketball coach Mike Devoll summed it up best after Canton’s big win over Oliver Ames last week.
“When we play up tempo, attack the basket, and limit our turnovers, we can play with anyone,” he said. “But when we play passive basketball, stuff that can put you to sleep, we can also lose to anyone.”
Last week, Canton upped the tempo and played great two-way basketball in a 70-56 upset of Oliver Ames, and competitive basketball in a 71-56 loss to Franklin, but did not play well in a 52-41 road loss to Foxboro Friday night.
The Bulldogs were 5-11 going into this week, and in order to make the playoffs they must win the last game of the year on February 15 at home against Division 3 Fairhaven. Canton can enter the state playoffs by winning 50 percent of its Division 3 contests.
At home on Wednesday, January 27, the 30-second shot clock was not working, and A.J. Nichols was in foul trouble early in the game. But three Bulldogs had banner games and anyone Devoll put into the lineup contributed. Dan Boivert had a great shooting game with 19 points; Marc Abelard played great two-way basketball with 15 points, and Max Guillaume had 13 points and six steals. The Bulldogs had contributions both offensively and defensively from inside players Zia Wiggins, Tyler Gavigan and Josh Sheehan and guards Chris Murray and Joe McCabe.
With great team defense, multiple steals from Guillaume, good shooting from Boivert and great two-way play from Abelard, Canton shot its way to a 31-15 halftime lead over (9-5) Oliver Ames. The Tigers came back fast, exerting a full-court defense and good outside shooting to cut the lead to 51-50 with 4:50 left in the game.
But Boivert’s jump shooting and key free throws by Gavigan gave Canton some breathing room at 56-50 with 3:40 left to play. More free throws by Guillaume and Murray helped seal the win.
Oliver Ames did not employ a zone defense against Canton, but Foxboro dared Canton to shoot in its half-court zone defense, and it gave the Bulldogs trouble all night. Canton fell into a hole early, trailing 18-11 at the end of the first quarter and 27-17 at the half.
The Bulldogs rebounded early in the third quarter behind Boivert, Nichols and Guillaume as the lead was cut to four with five minutes left. But turnovers and mistakes continued to plague the Bulldogs, and the Warriors took advantage.
Foxboro increased the lead to 11 by the end of the third quarter and to 18 in the fourth before Canton had a late-game flurry of offense from Colby Gavigan, Sheehan and Wiggins. Boivert was the Bulldogs’ high scorer with nine points and McCabe came off the bench to add seven.
Devoll was happy with his team’s overall performance against league-leading Franklin (13-2) as the Bulldogs kept things close throughout the game. Canton trailed the Panthers 30-23 at the end of the first quarter, 53-40 at the end of the third quarter and cut the lead to seven points midway through the fourth.
The Bulldogs were scheduled to play their last four games of the regular season this week: Tuesday at home against North Attleboro, Friday at home against Stoughton, on the road against King Philip on February 12 and the final game, Monday, February 15, against Fairhaven.
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Posted by Mike Berger
on Feb 4 2010. Filed under High School, Sports.
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