Sacred Heart wears down Canton in quarterfinal battle

Canton senior Erin Detorie (3) drives to the basket in Thursday’s Class S quarterfinal game in Waterbury.

WATERBURY – In a small, little gymnasium in downtown Waterbury, two small school girls basketball teams played with the tenacity of mountain lions Thursday night in the Class S quarterfinals.

No. 10 Canton and No. 2 Sacred Heart both used a swarming, in-your-face style of defense that caused numerous turnovers, steals, blocks and missed shots.

The Hearts handled the heat and pressure just a little bit better, eliminating the pesky Warriors, 38-33. Sacred Heart held Canton scoreless for a stretch of 3:30 in the third quarter and the first 4:46 of the fourth quarter. The Hearts allowed just five field goals in the second half.

“We switched to a 1-3-1 zone and that seemed to throw them for a loop,” Sacred Heart coach Ryan Sullivan said. “We pride ourselves on our defensive effort. We stressed all week in practice that we have to get a hand in their face. You can’t leave them alone. They’re terrific set shooters.”

Sacred Heart built a nine-point lead with 3:46 remaining but Canton refused to wilt.

Jacquie Grabowski grabbed a rebound and put it back in with 3:14 to go before Gabby Rose took a charge to force a Hearts turnover. Canton’s Erin Detorie sank a three-point shot with 2:28 remaining and after the Hearts missed two foul shots, Rose sank an open jumper to cut the lead to one, 32-30 with 1:56 left in the game.

Canton freshman Emily Briggs (12) tries to find open space.

“The kids just battled,” Canton coach Brian Medeiros said. “All I can ask if for them to give us a chance to win in the fourth quarter and that’s what they did. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

But Sacred Heart’s Maya Eggleston sank six of eight foul shots in the final 1:56 to seal the deal for the Hearts, who will face Thomaston Monday night in the Class S semifinals. She had missed her last three foul shots. Egglestone finished with a game-high 20 points and sank 11 of 16 free throws.

Eggleston and Mikyla Jacobs (13 points) scored all but five points for the Hearts.

Canton (16-8) was led by sophomore Maggie Treacy with Rose with eight points each. Rose had eight rebounds and three steals. Freshman Emily Briggs had seven points. Grabowski had four points but pulled down 14 rebounds and three steals.

“We played so hard,” Medeiros said. “They stuck to the game plan. We wanted to keep their two best players to under 30 points. We nearly kept the entire team under 30. I just didn’t think we would struggle as much as we did to score. I knew they were a good defensive team.”

The Hearts (18-5) were one of the more physical teams that Canton has faced this year. Seldom did a Canton player have an open shot and there was frequently two Sacred Heart players harassing the player with the ball.

“Our league is pretty physical and we’re used to this,” Sullivan said. Sacred Heart was second in the Naugatuck Valley League’s Copper Division, losing just two NVL games to league champion Holy Cross.

The Hearts led 7-5 after one period but Canton began to start scoring in the second quarter. Treacy drained a three-point shot while Rose put back her own rebound to give the Warriors an 11-9 lead.

After Grabowski intercepted a pass, Rose drove to the basket for layup and a four-point lead, 13-9 with 3:34 left in the second quarter. The Hearts tied the game at 15-15 but Briggs sank a jumper with 1:24 left to give Canton a 17-15 halftime lead.

Grabowski scored a pair of foul shots and Treacy hit a three-point shot to give Canton a 22-18 lead with 3:56 left in the third quarter but the Hearts outscored Canton 8-1 to take a three-point lead into the fourth quarter.

Canton cut the lead to two twice in the final two minutes — once on the jumper by Rose with 1:56 left and once on a three-point shot by Alex Martin with 43 seconds remaining. Each time, Sacred Heart sank their free throws to pull away.

“My hats off to Canton,” Sullivan said. “They’re a young team and they’ll be a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.”

NOTES: The Hearts’ Alumni Hall gym only holds about 850 fans and was opened in the last 10 years. … Canton was making its first appearance in the Class S quarterfinals since 2009. Canton last played in the semifinals in 1999. … Canton had 14 steals in the game. … The Warriors missed 35 shots, including many right under the basket. … In three Class S tournament games, Canton allowed an average of 34.3 points a game. They gave up 42 in a 67-42 win over Terryville and 23 in a 55-23 decision over East Windsor. … Sacred Heart’s 38 points was its second-lowest scoring performance of the season. The Hearts scored 37 in a win over Kennedy in December and 38 in a win over Crosby, also in December.

Sacred Heart 38, Canton 33
At Waterbury
Canton (33) Erin Detorie 1-0-3, Lindsay Sugar 0-0-0, Natalie Grisevich 0-0-0, Katie Walker 0-0-0, Emily Briggs 3-1-7, Jacquie Grabowski 1-2-4, Alex Martin 1-0-3, Maggie Treacy 2-2-8, Gabby Rose 4-0-8. Totals 12-5-33
Sacred Heart (38) Maryn Vaillancourt 1-0-2, Julie Frenis 0-0-0, Nicole Glaude 0-0-0, Nicole Jolly 0-0-0, Mikyla Jacobs 4-4-13, Kara Donnelly 0-0-0, Amber Craig 1-0-3, Mahnue Sahn 0-0-0, Maya Eggleston 4-11-20. Totals 10-15-38
Canton (16-8)                        5  12   6  10 – 33
Sacred Heart (18-5)               7   8  11  12 – 38
Three-point goals: Jacobs (S), Craig (S), Eggleston (S); Martin (C), Treacy (C) 2, Rose (C)