Canton girls basketball looks for continue growth, more wins

CANTON, Dec. 9 – Canton High’s second-year coach Michael Jessie hopes that the pieces will continue to fall into place to allow his girls basketball team to grow and get better.

A year ago, the Warriors played a lineup filled with sophomores and juniors and paid the price with a record of 2-18 and 1-15 in the NCCC. There was just one senior on that team and she averaged less than a point a game.

This year’s squad isn’t much older. Senior guard Katherine Winsor and forward Amanda Curvino are joined by six juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen. The Warriors open the season on Tuesday, Dec. 11 when they host Avon at 7 p.m.

“We’re much better than we were a year ago,” Jessie said. “We are much more aggressive and that comes with maturity as they get a year older. We’ve learned how to compete at this level. Now, we need to learn to win at this level.”

In this preseason, Canton showed they could compete. They won individual quarters from Naugatuck, Wolcott High and St. Paul – something they really couldn’t do a year ago.

Jessie is looking for more consistency from the Warriors – hustle, rebounding, foul shooting. “If we can take care of the little things, we can put ourselves in position to win,” he said.

Curvino, a 5-foot-6 forward, was the team’s leading scorer a year ago. She averaged 10.7 points a game and led the team in three-point shots (14) and rebounding with 6.1 rebounds a game.

Winsor, the team’s point guard, led the team with 2.7 assists a game and 16 steals. Junior Alex Martin (1.9 ppg) will be the other guard with sophomores Gabby Rose (4.2 ppg) and Jackie Grabowski (2.1 ppg) at forward.

Coming off the bench will be juniors Erin Detorie, Lindsay Sugar, Holly Whytock, Emma First and Natalie Grisevich. Freshmen Maggie Treacy and Elyse Walten should also see some playing time.

The first few games of the season will be a challenge.

Canton opens the schedule with three of the top teams in league hosting Avon (0-1) on Tuesday in the season opener followed by another home game against Suffield on Friday, Dec. 14 and a game against Ellington on Wednesday, Dec. 19. There is a game against Somers on Tuesday, Dec. 18, at home.

But there will be opportunities to win and Jessie is aiming for at least eight wins to earn a berth in the Class S tournament.

NOTES: Canton was supposed to open the season at Ellington on Dec. 7 but that game was moved due to a conflict with another school event at Ellington. … Avon dropped its season opening game to Bolton last week, 52-51. … A sign of optimism this winter in Canton is 19 freshmen in the program. For the first time in many years, the Canton girls will be playing about a half dozen freshman-only games.

Canton girls hoops
December
11: Avon; 14: Suffield; 18: Somers; 19 at Ellington; 29: at Wamogo
January
4: at Bolton; 8: at SMSA; 11: Stafford; 15: at Coventry, 5 p.m.; 18: at Somers;  22: Enfield; 24: at Granby; 25: at Gilbert; 29: at Windsor Locks
February
1: at East Windsor; 2: Northwestern, 1 p.m.; 5: Coventry; 6: Wamogo; 8: East Granby; 12: Windsor Locks
Games begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise listed