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Hungry HMTCA hands Canton a second straight loss

Canton’s Tim Keating (33) moves to the basket in Friday night’s loss to HMTCA in Hartford. (Photo courtesy Paul Amrose)

HARTFORD, Feb. 9 – No one said winning a league championship would be easy. The Canton High boys basketball team slipped back into second place in the North Central Connecticut Conference Friday night after suffering a 60-43 loss to league newcomer Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy (HMTCA).

The host Phoenix (8-8) outscored the Warriors by 10 points in the first quarter and 11 points in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.

Canton (14-3, 12-2 NCCC) slips a half game behind Hartford’s Sport Medicine Science Academy (14-4, 13-2 NCCC), who have won seven straight game and their last nine league contests since they lost to Canton on January 12. The Tigers beat Granby on Friday night, 62-55.

Canton’s hopes to win a second straight NCCC championship remain squarely in their own hands. They can win a share of the league title with a win over Rockville (12-6, 11-3 NCCC) on Tuesday night and by beating East Granby on Tuesday, February 20. SMSA can win a share of the league title with a win over Classical on Tuesday night.

It was the second straight loss for the Warriors, who lost to Avon last Saturday night.

“Turnovers hurt us as we did not value the ball,” Canton coach Craig Archambault said. “There were too many forced and unforced turnovers. Give credit to (HMTCA). They were the hungrier team. They wanted it more and simply outplayed us in all aspects of the game.”

Ryan Enns led Canton with 18 points while Tim Keating added 11. Victor Smith had a team-high 17 points for the Phoenix. It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools. HMTCA opened in 1999.

Canton returns to action on Tuesday night with a big game against Rockville beginning at 7 p.m. at the high school.

HMTCA 60, Canton 43
At Hartford
Canton (43): Luke Brown 3 0 7, Jack Mansur 1 0 2, Ryan Enns 7 4 18, Grant Lange 1 0 3, Tim Keating 4 2 11, Mitchell Cormier 1 0 2. Totals 17 6 43
HMTCA (60): Roosevelt Orbe 2 5 9, Mathieu Augustin 8 1 18, Alexis Quinones 4 1 9, Caron Henderson 2 0 4, Alex D’Attilio 1 0 3, Victor Smith 4 9 17. Totals 21 16 60
Canton (14-3)                          10  9  12  12  — 43
HMTCA (8-8)                         20  6  11  23  — 60
Three-point goals: Brown (Ca), Lange (Ca), Keating (Ca), Augstin (H), D’Attilio (H)

 

NCCC boys basketball NCCC Overall
SMSA 13-2 14-4
Canton 12-2 14-3
Hartford Classical 11-3 14-3
Rockville 11-3 12-6
Granby 10-4 11-5

 

Thursday’s game
Granby 50, Rockville 38
SMSA 72, Windsor Locks 57
Friday’s games
HMTCA 60, Canton 43
Rockville 58, Classical 55
SMSA 62, Granby 55
Saturday’s game
HMTCA at Classical
Monday, February 12
Coventry at Granby
Tuesday, February 13
Granby at Suffield
Rockville at Canton
Classical at SMSA
Friday, February 16
East Windsor at Rockville
Tuesday, February 20
East Granby at Canton, 5 p.m

 

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 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.

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