Win
over Bedford clinches tournament berth for girls' hoop
By Jeffrey
Pickette
Citizen Staff
With last
Thursday’s come-from-behind victory against Bedford, the Canton
High girls’ varsity basketball team has qualified for state
tournament play.
 After
also beating King Philip at home last Friday, the team enters
this week with a 5-13 record, riding a season-high three-game
winning streak.
“I am really
thrilled with the progress the team has made the past few
weeks,” head coach Kaitlin Mills wrote in an e-mail to the
Citizen.
“They have worked incredibly hard this season and their hard
work is really paying off.”
Even with a
losing record, the team is still eligible for postseason play
because of the “Sullivan Rule,” according to Mills. Canton is a
Division 3 school in girls’ basketball, but the Bulldogs compete
against teams in the Hockomock League that are all from either
Division 1 or 2 schools.
The Sullivan
Rule allows for teams that play at least 70 percent of its games
against schools in a higher division to qualify for the
postseason if they win 50 percent or more of the games played
against teams within its own division. Canton has twice defeated
Bedford, the only fellow Division 3 squad the Bulldogs have
played all season.
Against
Bedford, Canton trailed by as many as 18 points in the third
quarter and by 14 points heading into the fourth quarter. But in
the fourth quarter, the team was able to get the ball inside to
Erika Bornemann, who scored 12 of Canton’s 24 points in the
final quarter.
Mills credited
Nicki Fralick, Elana Willinsky and Alana Pitts-Anaya with
scoring key baskets down the stretch, as Canton was able to
outscore Bedford 24-9 in the final quarter en route to a 53-52
Bulldog win.
Bornemann led
the way with 22 points, 16 rebounds, and four blocks, while
Olivia Murphy added nine points and 16 rebounds.
Last Friday’s
home game against King Philip was Canton’s senior night,
honoring the team’s four seniors Laura O’Brien, Christen
Ivanoski, Bornemann and Willinsky.
Fittingly,
Bornemann dominated, finishing with 32 points and 20 rebounds,
scoring more than half of the team’s points in a 53-46 Canton
win.
The Bulldogs
led by five at the half and focused on shutting down King
Philip’s leading scorer Lauren Trudeau for the rest of the game,
holding her scoreless in the final two quarters.
“Nicki Fralick
and Lauren Berman did an outstanding job defending Trudeau,”
Mills noted. “We didn’t even let her touch the ball.”
Canton was
scheduled to play Norwood on Tuesday at the Riley Winter
Classic, hosted by Westwood High. The championship and
consolation games were slated for Wednesday. On Friday, the team
will find out its opponent in the first round of the state
tournament.
February 18, 2010
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