Boys basketball
Canton has to rally to catch quick Ellington squad
By GERRY deSIMAS, JR.
Collinsville Press
CANTON, Jan. 19, 2009 – With a pair of victories last week, the Canton High boys basketball team remained undefeated but it wasn’t easy. Canton had to rally from a 12-point deficit to beat Ellington, 67-64. The Warriors finished the week with a 67-43 win over Enfield, building a 19-point halftime lead and coasting to the finish.
Canton improves to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the league. “I don’t think we’ve put together a four quarter effort yet and the boys know that,” Canton coach Eric Deegan said. “We get some nice runs together but we haven’t played a consistent game yet. And it won’t be that easy against the better teams.”
Ellington led by as many as 12 points. Point guard Brian Francolini, an All-American soccer player, had a game and career-high 26 points, including 18 points in the fourth quarter on six three-point goals. “They gave us a lot of trouble with their quickness,” Deegan said. “They were the first team that was quicker than we were.”
The Warriors had to abandon its man-to-man defense and play zone. Chris Robitaille had 20 points and 20 rebounds but he played stronger in the second half. Andrew Crowley led the Warriors with 24 points. Mike Setzler added 11.
Canton took advantage of a huge advantage at the foul line, sinking 18 of 23 shots. Because Canton was called for just two fouls in the entire game, Ellington didn’t attempt a single foul shot.
Against Enfield on Friday, the Warriors raced out to a 21-8 lead after one quarter and cruised from there. Robitaille had 27 points while Crowley added 22. Connor Smyth scored 10.
This week, Canton (6-0, 4-0 NCCC) had a full week with three non-conference games at East Granby on Tuesday (Jan. 20), against East Windsor on Friday (Jan. 23) and at Bolton on Saturday night (Jan. 24).
The six-game winning streak to begin the season is
the fourth best start in school history. Canton won 12 straight to open the 1963 season and seven in a row to open the 2007 and 1982 campaigns.
Girls Basketball
Canton shuts down Enfield to snap two-game losing streak
CANTON, Jan. 19, 2009 -- Canton (8-2, 3-2 NCCC) reached the halfway point of the regular season with a 61-26 victory over Enfield, which snapped a two-game losing streak. Sarah Benedetti had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead Canton while Megan Roux added 12 points. Danielle Coutu scored a season-high 16 points.
The Warriors outscored Enfield, 29-10 in the first half.
Against Ellington, the Warriors had trouble with the Knights’ defensive pressure in a 51-44 defeat. Emily Savino had 13 points and eight rebounds to lead Ellington (6-2, 2-2 NCCC). Canton scored just five points in the first quarter and seven in the third period.
Indoor track
Schwartzman breaks her
own school record in shot
HIGGNAUM, Jan. 17, 2009 -- Rachel Schwartzman broke her own school record in the shot put with a throw of 27 feet, 3.75 inches at Saturday’s Haddam-Killingworth Invitational. She broke the record set by Molly Checksfield in 2007 of 26-10. Schwartzman finished 14th in the event.
The Canton girls 800-meter relay team finished second in the 4x2 relay with a time of 1:59.31, less than a second off the school record time set at the Class S meet in 2007. Alessandra Summa, Alaina Casioppo, Elyse Minichello and Tyisha Alexander ran the race. The Warriors were a distant second, six seconds off the winning pace of 1:53.75 set by Weston.
The Canton girls earned 15 points in the meet and finished tied for 11th out of 32 teams.
Katie Bussiere finished sixth in the 1,000 meters with a time of 3:20.70 with teammate Frances Klimczak close behind in ninth place (3:23.91). Canton’s 1,600 meter sprint relay team of Alexander, Bussiere, Katie Talbot and Klimczak finished third with a time of 4:44.66.
The boys also competed at the meet but didn’t score any points. The Canton 1,600 meter relay team was the only one to break into the top 10, finishing eighth in 3:56.58. Kevin Kurtnat, Matt Casey, Dylan Petrascovius and Wesley Nichols made up the team.
David Kucia finished 11th in the 55 hurdles with a time of 9.07.
Canton will compete at the Glastonbury developmental meet on Thursday before the NCCC championship meet on Wednesday, Jan. 28.
CHS wrestlers beat Seymour for first time
By GERRY deSIMAS, JR.
Collinsville Press
CANTON, Jan. 19, 2009 -- In three tough matches, the Canton High wrestling team won just once but it was still a satisfying effort.
Despite missing four starters, the Warriors scored 30 points off Derby (14-2) in a 47-30 defeat and wrestled valiantly in a 51-21 loss to Gillbert (13-1). Canton (12-6) beat Seymour for the first time ever with a 45-30 victory.
“It wasn’t an easy day for anybody,” Canton assistant coach Ed deSimas said. “Derby came out 3-0 but they had to do their work. There were no easy matches for anybody.
Rich Jones and Nate Getler each finished 3-0 on the afternoon. Jones improved to 20-1 while Getler remained undefeated at 21-0. Nate Scull (152) was out with an injury after getting slammed to the mat last weekend against Gilbert, Ben Miner (160) was competing in a national gymnastics competition and Sean Delany (215) was ill. The other missing starter was skiing.
Still, the Warriors wrestled passionately. “We lost a few matches by a point because we let our guard down. I hope the boys will learn from that,” Ed deSimas said.
Against Derby, Matt White (103) dropped a 10-9 decision to Derby’s Matt Poppa, who scored a two-point reversal with two seconds left. Steve Carpenter (119) dropped a 3-2 decision to Vincent Delprete, who controlled Carpenter for the entire third period. At 215, Mike Frazier was tied with Derby’s Jesse Gilbert at 9-9 before he got caught in a move and pinned.
Getler (135) and Brandon Leach (140) each had pins for Canton along with Nate Haller (171).
Against Gilbert, the Yellowjackets won six of the first seven matches to take a commanding 33-4 lead. Gilbert’s Ross Lopardo (171) outlasted Nate Haller, 2-1. For Canton, Getler outlasted Tony Decato in a hard-fought 13-2 decision while Brandon Leach (140) outlasted Eric Parsons, 4-3. Carpenter (119) had a pin in 15 seconds.
Canton won the first six matches against Seymour to take a 33-0 lead with pins from Leach, Anthony Santiago (152), Greg Coles (171) and Nate Haller (189). Jones earned a 9-5 decision over Bill O’Donnell, erasing a four-point deficit after one period. Carpenter and Getler each earned a pair of hard-fought 9-2 decisions.
Canton faces Avon (13-1, 3-0 NCCC) on Wednesday at home before going to the Eagle Classic on Saturday.
