SHARON, Mass. – It might have been second game jitters, or maybe it was the nearly 90-minute delay that pushed tipoff back, but neither Canton nor Sharon could quite get into a rhythm on Friday night.
That was until crunch time.
The visiting Bulldogs used an 8-0 run — the biggest run from either team in the entire game — to surge ahead with just under three minutes to go, only for the host Eagles to answer and secure a 57-52 win.
A pair of lengthy subvarsity games pushed the start time back over an hour, and both teams struggled to string baskets together as defense ruled the first three quarters.
“We got a little complacent and at times, we got a little selfish, and our offense stopped moving, we stopped sharing the ball and it became difficult to score,” said Sharon head coach Andrew Ferguson. “I think [Canton’s run] did kind of wake us up. We had some real effort from guys on the bench that kept everyone involved. Then we were able to get some big plays down the stretch from some big players.”
A bucket down low from Sharon junior Jaden Segal put the Eagles ahead 47-40 just before the midway point of the fourth quarter. Canton responded with its best offensive stretch of the game as Jamaal McConnell (16 points, four rebounds, two blocks) hit a free throw and senior Caden Mirliani scored a bucket in transition and followed with a pull-up three-pointer to get the Bulldogs within one.
Matt Chafin (eight points) came up with a steal and Julius Hicks found Zaza Francoeur (7 points, five rebounds, four steals, three blocks) cutting to the basket for two and Canton’s first lead, 48-47, since McConnell’s opening bucket to start the game.
After a timeout, Sharon junior Jacob McLoughlin (8 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds) slipped a pass to a cutting Dante James (eight points), and the senior finished his baseline take to put the hosts back in front. An illegal screen gave Sharon the ball back but McConnell came up with a huge block at the rim. Canton had another empty trip, launching three three-pointers but were off the mark each time.
A pair of free throws from James extended Sharon’s lead to 51-48 but Hicks found Chafin and he drained his first and only three-point attempt to make it 51-51 with 1:30 left.
Sharon drew up a baseline inbounds play but the Bulldogs defended it well. Without any teammates open, McLoughlin alertly tossed the ball off a Canton player’s back, got back inbounds, and laid it up for two and a 53-51 lead.
“We’re not trying to make a habit of throwing off the other team’s back but we have two high IQ point guards,” Ferguson. Sharon senior Jack Bates (five assists, two steals) did the same thing to end a quarter against Taunton. “We’re trying to draw up a play, we were looking for Nate and they defended it really well. Jacob made a real heads-up play to get a bucket.”
The Eagles’ ball pressure led to a backcourt on Canton’s next possession, and after drawing up another play in a timeout, James looped in a pass to Nate Katznelson (22 points, 12 rebounds) in the post and he finished at the rim to make it 55-51 with 20 seconds left. Sharon continuously made an effort to get the ball down low, only attempting nine three-pointers all game and making just one.
“All day in practice yesterday we were working on feeding Nate in the post,” Ferguson said. “We thought we had a size advantage there and we could use that. He has been tremendous this year, his physicality is so much better. With Matt [Baur] out (illness) and Jacob not having his best night, we had to rely on Nate. And Dante made a great play in the end too, so relying on those guys with the varsity experience is key right now.”
McConnell sank a free throw to make it a one-possession game but McLoughlin sank two from the line to ice the win.
“I thought their ball pressure really bothered us and prevented us from getting into anything,” said second-year Canton head coach Eric MacKinnon. “We’d draw up a play and couldn’t get to it. Their ball pressure was really good but part of it is on us too. We’re too free-flowing at times. They got a lot of deflections and I thought they were the tougher team.
“During that run, that was the one point it kind of felt like things were going good but we never really got any runs, and didn’t have another one to extend [the lead]. Katznelson is a different type of player to guard and we were struggling a bit with that.”
Katznelson got off to a strong start, helping the hosts establish a lead that they carried throughout the second and third quarters. He started the game off with a traditional three-point play on a feed from McLoughlin and then scored 10 of Sharon’s final 14 points — the Eagles also got buckets from Zach Wise and Ryan Brown in the stretch.
He finished with 13 points and four rebounds in the opening quarter to help the Eagles take a 19-11 lead after eight minutes.
Hicks made a pair of threes in the second quarter and the Bulldogs also got buckets from Ashton Cetoute and Francoeur as they got the deficit down to four, 30-26, at halftime.
“We have to learn from this and grow from these situations, and we will if we do the right things in practice,” MacKinnon said. “I’m hoping we’ll look back and say we got better from it, even though it was a loss. We have to be tougher with the ball, some of our inexperience showed tonight.”
Sharon boys basketball (1-1 Hockomock, 1-1 overall) is on the road at Milford on Tuesday while Canton (1-1, 1-1) travels to Taunton.
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