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St. Joseph wins Canton Holiday Tournament; Warriors beat E.O. Smith

Canton’s Allison Celmer makes a pass during Friday’s Canton Holiday Tournament game against Simsbury. (Photo courtesy Paul Amrose)

CANTON, December 28, 2019 – On one afternoon, St. Joseph’s Kirsten Rodriguez was dominant with 21 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks in a 56-53 win over Middletown. The next day, Rodriguez’s Cadets scored just 28 points but St. Joseph was able to beat Simsbury and win two games to win the fifth annual Canton Holiday Tournament.

St. Joseph (6-1) was the only club in the six-team event to win both of their games. The Cadets beat Middletown, 56-53 on day one and outlasted Simsbury, 28-20 on day two. Rodriguez had a team-high six points along with a team-leading 10 rebounds in the win over Simsbury.

Canton’s fourth quarter rally fell short in a 45-43 loss to Simsbury on the first day of the tournament but the Warriors (2-2) snapped a two-game losing streak with a 49-40 victory over E.O. Smith-Storrs. Hall also participated in the tournament.

Simsbury led for most of the contest and led by eight points going into the fourth quarter. Trailing by 13 points, 40-27, with 4:40 remaining, the Warriors rallied to make it a game. Abby Charron scored nine points and Lauren Eschenbrenner and Paige Brown connected on three-point shots to cut the lead to two points.

Simsbury had a five-point lead with 14.1 seconds remaining when Charron hit a three-point shot with seven seconds left to trim the lead to two, 45-43 but that is as close as Canton could get. Grace Treacy and Charron had seven rebounds each.

“It was a great comeback but we came out flat (to open the game) and Simsbury imposed their will,” Canton coach Brian Medieros said.

Kate Sullivan led Simsbury (1-2) with 16 points while Charron scored 14 points for the Warriors. Brown added eight points for Canton.

Canton’s Grace Treacy drives to the basket in Friday’s loss to Simsbury in the Canton Holiday Tournament. (Photo courtesy Paul Amrose)

On Saturday, Charron scored a game-high 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists to lead the Warriors to a 49-40 victory over E.O. Smith. Celmer, Treacy and Brown had six points each for Canton, which took control of the contest in the second and third quarter. Celmer and Brown each pulled down six rebounds.

2019 Canton Holiday Tournament
Friday, Dec. 27
Simsbury 45, Canton 43
E.O. Smith 42, Hall 29
St. Joseph 56, Middletown 53
Saturday, Dec. 28
St. Joseph 28, Simsbury 20
Hall 53, Middletown 39
Canton 49, E.O. Smith 40
Records: St. Joseph 2-0, Canton 1-1, Simsbury 1-1, E.O. Smith 1-1, Hall 1-1, Middletown 0-2

Simsbury 45, Canton 43
At Canton
Simsbury (45)
Mary McElroy 1 3-7 5, Ellie McElroy 2 1-1 6, Kate Sullivan 5 2-2 16, Rachel Sullivan 2 2-5 7, Sydney Safft 3-0-6, Riley Peterson 1-0-3, Faye Kaplinski 1-0-2. Totals 15 8-17 45
Canton (43) Abby Charron 4 4-6 14, Allison Celmer 0 3-6 3, Grace Treacy 2 1-3 5, Lauren Eschenbrenner 2-0-6, Gabby Schinkel 0-0-0, Jenna Cuniowski 3-0-7, Paige Brown 3 1-2 8. Totals 14 9-18 43
Simsbury (1-2)                 13  8  11  13  — 45
Canton (1-2)                       6  9    9  19  – 43
Three-point goals: E. McElroy (S), Sullivan (S) 4, Sullivan (S), Peterson (S), Charron (Ca) 2, Eschenbrenner (Ca) 2, Cuniowski (Ca), Brown (Ca)

St. Joseph 56, Middletown 53
At Canton

Middletown (53) Jenaya Salfaia 1 0-0 2; Denziar Rose-Daniels 6 2-4 14; India Weston 3 0-1 6; Alexa Desena 1 0-0 3; Aysia Henderson 1 0-0 2; Tyah Pettaway 4 2-7 11; Jada Bryant 0 0-0 0; Ayanna McLalla 6 2-5 15. Totals 22 6-17 53
St Joseph (56) Veronica Lubas 0 0-2 0; Elizabeth Adzima 1 0-0 2; Cate DeProfio 0 0-0 0; Kate Rudini 6 2-6 14; Kayleigh Carson 1 0-0 3; Erika Stephens 1 0-0 2; McKenna Hedman 0 1-2 1; Isabella Casucci 2 1-2 5; Rahmia Johnston 3 0-0 6; Kirsten Rodriguez 9 3-3 21; Becca Kery 0 0-0 0; Emily Haverl 1 0-0 2. Totals: 24 7-15 56
Middletown (1-2)         14     7  17  12 – 53
St Joseph (5-1)             11   15  12  18 – 56
Three-point goals: Alexa Desena, Tyah Pettaway, Ayanna McLalla, Kayleigh Carson

Canton 49, E.O. Smith 40
At Canton
E.O. Smith (40)
Courtney Doherty 1 0 2, Taylor Golembiewski 3 2 9, Felicia Fongemie 1 0 2, Lilliana Clark 4 1 11, Allie Raynor 0 0 0, Claire Greene 3 0 7, Maddie Hughes 2 3 7, Bella Mallory 1 0 2. Totals 15 6 40
Canton (49) Abby Charron 8 5-7 23, Allison Celmer 3 0-1 6, Grace Treacy 2 0 6, Lauren Eschenbrenner 1 1-3 3, Gabby Schinkel 1 0 3, Jenna Cuniowski 1 0 2, Paige Brown 2 2-4 6. Totals 18 8 49
E.O. Smith (3-2)              15  6  12  7  — 40
Canton (2-2)                     17  9  16  7 – 49
Three-point goals: Golembiewski (EOS), Clark (EOS) 2, Greene (EOS), Charron (Ca) 2, Treacy (Ca) 2, Schinkel (Ca)

St Joseph 28, Simsbury 20
At Canton
Simsbury (20)
Mary McElroy 3 1-4 8; Riley Peterson 0 0-0 0; Rachel Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Katie Perlitz 0 0-0 0; Sydney Saft 0 0-0 0, Ellie McElroy 2 0-0 5; Kate Sullivan 1 0-0 3; Faye Kaplinski 2 0-1 4. Totals: 8 1-5 20
St Joseph (28) Veronica Lubas 1 4-6 6; Elizabeth Adzima 1 0-0 2; Cate DeProfio 0 0-0 0; Kate Rudini 0 2-2 2; Kayleigh Carson 1 0-0 2; Erika Stephens 1 0-0 2; McKenna Hedman 0 0-0 0; Isabella Casucci 0 1-2 1; Rahmia Johnston 1 3-4 5; Kirsten Rodriguez 2 2-3 6; Becca Kery 0 1-2 1 Emily Haverl 0 1-2 1. Totals: 7 14-21 28
Simsbury (1-3)              8  4  5  3 – 20
St Joseph (4-1)           10  4  8   5 – 28
Three-point goals: Mary McElroy, Ellie McElroy, Sullivan

Canton Holiday Tournament
2016: Final — Canton 69, Hall 57
2017: 1) Hall 2-0, 2. Suffield 1-1, 3. Canton 1-1
2018: 1) Farmington and Tolland 2-0, 3) Avon 1-1
2019: 1) Canton 2-0, 2. Berlin, Middletown and St. Joseph 1-1

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