Canton, Farmington pull away for wins at Canton Holiday Classic, remain undefeated

Canton’s Lauren Eschenbrenner drives to the basket in Wednesday night’s win over Suffield at the Canton Holiday Classic. (Photo courtesy Paul Amrose)

CANTON, Dec. 27, 2017 – Belle Magna had a game-high 10 points and Abby Charron had six points in her first game of the season as the defending Class S champion Canton girls basketball team beat Suffield, 53-31 at the Canton Holiday Classic Wednesday night.

The victory by the Warriors (4-0, 4-0 NCCC) closed out an afternoon of girls basketball action.

In the first game of the tournament, Tolland got 10 points from Annie Gantner to outlast Lewis Mills, 32-29. The Eagles (4-1) trailed 13-2 after one period but allowed just eight points in the second half to earn the victory.

In game two, undefeated Farmington (6-0) received 21 points from Izzy Lipinski to pull away from rival Avon, 41-23. Caroline Ives and Amanda Rodrigues had eight points each for Farmington. The game was tied at 10-10 after one quarter but the Indians limited Avon to just six points in the second and third quarter to take command of the contest.

Canton and Suffield played a high-scoring first quarter with frequent lead changes. The Warriors led 18-14 after one quarter. But Canton settled down, outscoring Suffield, 27-5 over the next two quarters to take control of the game.

“This was another solid team victory as we had nine of 10 girls score points for us tonight,” Canton coach Brian Medeiros said. “It was nice to get a W over a very solid Suffield team. It was great to see the girls limit them on the defensive end, which led to some great scoring opportunities.”

Charron, a sophomore guard, played for the first time this season after missing the first three games of the season with a nagging injury from the field hockey season. Maggie First added nine points for Canton while Lauren Eschenbrenner scored eight, including a pair of three-point goals.

“We will have another solid test with Avon tomorrow night. It should be a good one,” Medeiros said.

Canton’s Morgan Walzak looks upcourt after grabbing a rebound in Wednesday’s win over Suffield. (Photo courtesy Paul Amrose)

The Canton and Avon game will be the final game of the tournament at 6 p.m. Farmington faces Lewis Mills at 2 p.m., at the high school with Suffield and Tolland squaring off at 4 p.m.

Since the pairings are pre-determined, there is no tournament champion.

Canton 53 Suffield 31
At Canton
Canton (53) Abby Charron 3-0-6, Belle Magna 5 0-1 10, Allison Celmer 2 1-2 5, Grace Treacy 1-0-2, Lauren Eschenbrenner 3-0-8, Paige Brown 1 3-4 5, Gabble Schinkel 3-0-6, Morgan Walzak 0-0-0, Maggie First 1 7-8 9, Allie Delsanto 1-0-2, Maeve Balavender 0-0-0. Totals: 21 11-15 53
Suffield (31) M. Sullivan 1 1-1 3, E. Carucci 6-0-14, B. Plano 0-0-0, P. Anderson 4 1-2 9, A. Mills 1-0-2, C. Matthews 1 1-2 3. Totals 17 3-5 31
Suffield (1-3)   14    2   3  11 – 31
Canton (4-0)   18  12  15  8  — 53
Three-point goals: Carucci (S) 2, Eschenbrenner (C) 2

Tolland 32, Lewis Mills 29
At Canton
Lewis Mills (29): Abby Mills 2 0 6, Lauren Alvarez 0 0 0, Alyssa Wrabel 1 0 2, Emily Hunt 0 0 0, Brooklyn Murdick 3 0 8, Samantha Chadwick 1 2 5, Nikki Ignatowski 0 0 0, Gabby Bagdonas 3 0 8, Hannah Rich 0 0 0. Totals: 10 2 29.
Tolland (32): Lauren Janton 1 2 4, Sophia Webster 4 1 10, Kacie Gallicchio 2 2 6, Maddie Peasley 0 0 0, Amy Lumia 0 0 0, Megan Enman 1 0 2, Annie Gantner 5 0 10. Totals: 13 5 32.
Lewis Mills (3-2)    13   8   4  4 — 29
Tolland (4-1)           2  11  10 9 — 32
Three-point goals: Mills (LM) 2, Murdick (LM) 2, Bagdonas (LM) 2, Chadwick (LM); Webster (T)