Sports

Boys Basketball: Canton Beats Dover-Sherborn in MIAA Tournament

Canton beat D-S last night 58-46.

After going 5-15 in the regular season the won when it mattered most beating Dover-Sherborn, 58-46, Monday night to advance further in MIAA Tournament play.

The game was close throughout and the Bulldogs trailed by one point, 37-36, heading into the fourth quarter, until Canton exploded offensively in the final frame, at one point taking a 16-point lead.

“You see that lead start to expand a little bit, you start to rush, you start to panic a little bit, and then you get sloppy. And then they took advantage of some sloppy play at a key moment,” said Dover-Sherborn Head Coach Rick Grady.

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Canton's full-court press in the fourth quarter gave D-S trouble getting the ball up past half-court. Turnovers lead to easy baskets in their own end for Canton which helped them build their lead.

“We decided we wanted to try to win the game by pressing. Win it in the back court not in the front court,” said l.

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“It’s just disappointing the way that we played,” Grady said. “They hit their open shots and their pressure gave us problems at times and at that key moment in the game they made the plays and we didn’t.”

Junior forward Colby Gavigan and junior guard Anthony Bires played stellar for the Bulldogs contributing 13-points apiece and taking over the game when it mattered most.

“They kind of did the dirty work: deflections, steals, tips, transition baskets,” Devoll said. “They were big, I mean, that was the difference. It was tied or close through three quarters and they were the difference in the fourth quarter.”

In the end the Raiders just didn't have an answer for Canton defensively.

“I think defensively we go man and they have a couple guys who can go by us and then we go zone and they hit threes and you try different things and nothing seemed to be working,” Grady said. “Canton played very well. I give them a lot of credit.”

Canton's players and fans erupted after the game in celebration.

 “That’s the way we’ve wanted to play this year. It’s just hard to do that in our league because teams are so good with the ball and they don’t make mistakes,” Devoll said.

Canton now has a 6-15 record on the season and will continue on to play Cardinal Spellman on Wednesday.

 “Spellman is tough. They’ve got size, they’re big, their gym is tough to play in. It’s tough to turn around quick and play on Wednesday," said Devoll. “Enjoy tonight and get back to the drawing board tomorrow.” 

For the Raiders, senior captain Colin Jamerson had 12 points in his final game of his high school career. Sophomore guard Ben Maletta had seven points and Nate Jenkins and Ned Linehan each had six points.

The Raiders end their season with a 11-10 record on the season.

As a side note, Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge was in attendance.


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