
Canton’s All-State senior Emily Briggs had a game-high 22 points in a 50-26 season opening win over East Granby.
CANTON – A few things were different at the Canton High gymnasium on Friday night as the girls basketball team opened the 2016-17 campaign. The Warriors were clad in their black uniforms while visiting East Granby wore white – usually the jersey color for the home team.
And for the first time ever, the Warriors took the floor as the defending Class S state champions. A new large, white girls basketball state championship banner trimmed in maroon was on the gymnasium wall as the Warriors opened the game with a 13-point run and easily won by a 50-26 score.
All-State forward Emily Briggs led with 22 points, nine rebounds and eight steals – all team highs. Sophomore Sarah Bowman added eight points, pulled down seven rebounds and blocked four shots. Senior Abbe Skinner added nine points and had five steals before leaving the game in the third quarter with a sprained ankle.
It was just eight months ago when Canton (22-6) beat Thomaston, 64-51, for its first-ever state championship on the floor on the Mohegan Sun Arena. Three players from that championship team graduated including All-State forward Maggie Treacy, who averaged 17 points a game.
Fourth-year coach Brian Medieros has some experience returning with Briggs, who averaged a team-leading 19 points a game last winter, seniors Abbe Skinner and Leah Eschenbrenner and junior Belle Magna. The rest of the team are freshmen and sophomores.
“It’s an interesting team,” Medieros said. “We have some older players and a lot of new players. Our calling card needs to be our defense. We’ve been able to play some solid defense in our scrimmages and I hope we can hang our hat on our defense until our offense comes together.
“We’ve always been pretty good at pressing (defensively) but haven’t been the best half-court (defensive) team,” he said. “We hope to become a solid half-court team.”
Briggs looks to be the top scorer on the team but the Warriors will need to develop alternatives, especially with a challenging non-conference scheduled designed to test Canton throughout the season.
Canton travels to Ansonia on Friday, Dec. 30 to face Kolbe Cathedral, a team believed to be among the contenders for the Class S title this year. The Warriors will host Avon on Saturday, January 28 at 1 p.m. and will travel to face Notre Dame-Fairfield on the road on Saturday, February 4 in another 1 p.m. start.
It may not be good for the win/loss record but Medieros knows that the challenges that the Warriors face in these non-conference games will be helpful in the NCCC and in the CIAC tournament.
“We’re going to Notre Dame,” Medieros said. “It’s a bigger school and we’ll be a little bit out of our element. But it will help slow things down when we get back to the league.”
With the move of defending NCCC champion Enfield to the Central Connecticut Conference, it looks like a wide open race for the North Central Connecticut Conference title with Canton, Suffield, Ellington and Bolton. Granby had a young team that should be much improved.
The quality of the schedule will pick up next week with a road game at Suffield and a home game next Friday night against Ellington. The following week, Suffield is the opening game in the Canton Holiday Tournament on Dec. 27 with the winner facing Tolland or Hall.
Canton earned win in the season opener for the eighth time in the last 10 years.
Canton 50, East Granby 26
At Canton
East Granby (26) Allie Davis 1-1-3, Caitlan Strzegowski 0-0-0, Destine Meade 2-0-5, Ekaterina Santos 1-0-2, Megan Hacia 1-1-4, Lily McCarthy 2-2-6, Julie Berger 1-0-2, Sierra Beaware 0-0-0, Rachel Griffin 1-0-2, Britney Couceiro 1-0-2. Totals 10-4
Canton (50) Abbe Skinner 4-0-9, Belle Magna 0-0-0, Emily Briggs 10-1-22, Leah Eschenbrenner 1-0-2, Sarah Bowman 4-0-8, Morgan Walzak 0-0-0, Abby Charron 2-0-4, Lauren Puglielli 0-0-0, Ali Delsanto 0-0-0, Lauren Eschenbrenner 1-0-3, Grace Treacy 0-2-2. Totals 22-3
East Granby (0-1) 5 9 6 6 — 26
Canton (1-0) 15 17 11 7 – 50
Three-point goals: Skinner (C), Briggs (C), Lauren Eschenbrenner (C); Meade (EG), Hacia (EG)
Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 30 years.


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