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Canton rallies from 12-point deficit to beat SMSA and claim first place in NCCC

Canton’s Ethan Burke scored a career-high 21 points as the Warriors erased a 12-point deficit to beat SMSA Friday night in Hartford. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

HARTFORD, Jan. 13 — The Canton High boys basketball team erased a 12-point deficit to beat Sport Medicine Science Academy, 59-56, on Friday night and remain the only undefeated team in the North Central Connecticut Conference.

SMSA led the Warriors by 12 points, 46-34, with 3:15 remaining in the third quarter. But Canton went on a 16-4 run to take the lead for the first time since late in the first quarter. Tim Keating scored eight consecutive points for Canton in the big rally, including a three-point shot.

Canton (7-1, 6-0 NCCC) scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to take a 50-49 lead with 6:11 remaining on a three-point shot from Ethan Burke, who scored a game-high 21 points. Burke hit a jumper to start the quarter for Canton and Jack Mansur drained a three-point shot to cut the Tigers lead to two, 49-47.

Tim Keating had 13 points including eight straight in a key third quarter surge by Canton. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

After SMSA (7-2, 5-1 NCCC) tied the game at 50-50 on a pair of foul shots, Ryan Enns gave Canton a 52-50 lead with 4:50 remaining. Burke hit two foul shots with 1:42 remaining to stretch the lead to four, 54-50.

SMSA sank its first field goal of the fourth quarter with 1:17 remaining on a basket from Devon Daniels to cut the Canton lead to two, 54-52. But Canton sank five of six foul shots in the final 35 seconds to secure the victory.

With Canton leading by one, Mansur sank two pressure-filled foul shots with 8.3 seconds left to push the lead to three, 57-54. SMSA’s Jonathan Hernandez scored with 2.3 seconds left to cut the lead to one, 57-56 but Burke hit two foul shots with 1.8 seconds remaining to extend the Canton lead to three.

Canton’s Luke Brown controls the ball in Friday night’s win over SMSA in Hartford. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

Burke led Canton with career-high 21 points and three 3-point goals while Keating added 13 points. Mansur and Ennis had eight points each for the Warriors. Burke surpassed his career-high of 20 points established last week in a win over Somers.

SMSA was led by Jonathan Hernandez with 14 points while Tre Bailey had 13 points and Daquan Carr added 12 points. The Tigers used a 20-7 run in the second quarter to grab an 11-point lead at halftime.

The victory leaves Canton in first place in the NCCC with a 6-0 record followed by SMSA (5-1), Hartford Classical (4-1) and East Windsor (3-1). Somers is 3-2 in the league. It was the only regular season meeting between the two schools.

The Warriors return to the floor on Tuesday night when they travel to Granby for a 7 p.m. contest. Canton returns home on Friday, January 20 when they host Bolton at 7 p.m.

Canton 59, SMSA 56
At Hartford
Canton (59) Luke Brown 3-0-7, Jack Mansur 2-2-8, Ryan Enns 4-0-8, Ethan Burke 7-4-21, Mitchel Cormier 1-0-2, Tim Keating 4-4-13, Nicholas Amrose 0-0-0, Matt Rose 0-0-0. Totals 21-10-59
SMSA (56) Daquan Carr 5 0 12, Tre Bailey 6 0 13, Devon Daniels 4 0 8, Jeffrey Narcisse 2 0 4, Johnathan Hernandez 5 3 14, Rondell Lee 1 0 3, Justin Wright 1 0 2. Totals 24 3 56
Canton (7-1)       14  9  19  17 – 59
SMSA (7-2)         18  15  16  7 – 56
Three-point goals: Brown (C) 1, Mansur (C) 2, Burke (C) 3, Keating (C); Carr (S) 2, Bailey (S), Hernandez (S), Lee (S)

Bill Brewster contributed to this report

 

 

Since 2009, the Collinsville Press has been providing award-winning coverage of sports and news in the Farmington Valley and across Connecticut.

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