Cuniowski scores career-high 33 as Canton advances in NCCC Tournament

Jenna Cuniowski scored a career-high 33 points in Saturday’s NCCC Tournament win over Coventry.

At one point this season, the Canton High girls basketball was 3-8, five games under .500. Disruptions thanks to COVID-19, injuries and quarantine restrictions challenged the Warriors in the early part of the season. Even getting a practice together was a challenge.

It’s a different look for the Warriors in February. Canton (11-10) has won eight of their last 10 games and will play the semifinals of the NCCC Tournament on Tuesday at No. 2 seed Somers.

Canton won their third straight game on Saturday with a 56-41 win over Coventry in the quarterfinals of the NCCC Tournament behind a career-high 33 points from Jenna Cuniowski and 11 points from Sophia Mates. Cuniowski sank six three-point shots as the Warriors moved over the .500 mark for the first time this season.

“Today was a great team win,” Canton coach Brian Medieros said. “Beating Coventry (16-6) was no easy feat. They are a very good team, ranked No. 3 in (the CIAC’s) Class S rankings. Our team as a whole has come a long way since we were 3-8 and the wins over Coventry and Bolton are great examples of that. Hopefully, we can continue this momentum as we head into Somers on Tuesday night.”

The Warriors closed out the regular season on Wednesday with a 40-34 win over Bolton in overtime, outscoring the Bulldogs, 6-0, in the extra session to secure the win.

Against Coventry, the Warriors raced out to an early 15-6 lead with Cuniowsi scoring 13 of her 33 points in the first quarter. The Patriots cut the lead to six at halftime. Since Mates had picked up a third foul late in the second quarter, Medieros elected to keep Mates on the sideline and put a small, faster lineup on the floor to put some defensive pressure on Coventry.

“Going small allowed us to get out and run,” he said. “We outscored Coventry 13-7 in the quarter, only giving up one field goal. Sam Yanke, Avery Miller, and Ashelyn Cebollero did an outstanding job of shadowing (Coventry’s top scorer) Charlotte Jordan, making her work for everything, forcing her into tough shots, and just taking her and her team out of offensive rhythm.

“Avery Brown had a career high 11 rebounds, her defense and defensive rebounding was such a critical reason to our victory, not allowing Coventry to get second and third chance opportunities,” Medieros said.

Against Bolton, Emma Diel had 11 of her team-high 13 points in the first half as the Spartans took a 22-20 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, Canton did a solid job defensively on Somers, limiting them to just nine points. But the Warriors were only to score eight and trailed by three after three quarters, 31-28.

“Earlier in the season, this would of resulted in a loss, but the defense continued, better decisions were made with the ball, and timely baskets were made from Avery Brown, Avery Miller and Jenna Cuniowski to force OT,” Medieros said.

In the extra session, Brown sank a crucial three-point shot and hit a pair of free throws to seal the victory. Canton held Bolton scoreless over the last nine minutes of the game. “Sam Yanke, Avery Miller, Avery Brown, Gabby DelSanto, Ashelyn Cebollero, Sophia Mates, Jenna Cuniowski each made big plays in our full court and half court defense to force the OT period and get us the W,” Medieros said.

Cuniowski had 19 points to lead the Warriors while Mates had six points, 15 rebounds and 6 blocks. Brown scored 10 points.

On Monday, the Warriors beat HMTCA with Mates scoring 14 points and Cuniowski adding 11. Julia Lau had nine points on three 3-point shots.

Canton 56, Coventry 41
At Canton
Coventry (41) Arey Prior 1 2-3 4, Charlotte Jordan 5 7-9 21, Natalie Neal 1-0-2, Anaka Eaton 6 2-6 14, Sammy Coughlin 0-0-0, Totals: 13 9-18 41
Canton (56) Jenna Cuniowski 12 3-4 33, Sophia Mates 3 5-6 11, Ashelyn Cebolleo 0-0-0, Avery Brown 1-0-3, Gabby DelSanto 2 0-1 5, Avery Miller 0 2-2 2, Sam Yanke 1-0-2, Madisyn Reardon 0-0-0, Julia Lau 0-0-0, Juliana Cavanaugh 0-0-0, Rachel Renaud 0-0-0, Totals: 19 10-12 56
Coventry (16-6)          6  13  13  15 — 41
Canton (11-10)         15    9  13  19 – 56
Three-point goals: Jordan (Cov) 4, Cuniowski (Can) 6, Brown (C), DelSanto (C)

Canton 40, Bolton 34, OT
At Bolton
Canton (40) Jenna Cuniowski 7 3-6 19, Sophia Mates 2 2-2 6, Ashelyn Cebollero 0-0-0, Avery Brown 3 2-5 10, Gabby DelSanto 1 0-2 3, Avery Miller 1-0-2, Sam Yanke 0-0-0, Madisyn Reardon 0-0-0, Julia Lau 0-0-0, Juliana Cavanaugh 0-0-0, Rachel Renaud 0-0-0, Totals: 14 7-16 40
Bolton (34) Emma Diehl 5 2-2 13, Niya Islam 4-0-10, Isabel Kenney 1-0-3, Julia Zimmerman 0 1-2 1, Makenna Graves 3 1-2 7, Totals: 13 4-6 34
Canton (10-10)         9  11  8  6  6  — 40
Bolton (14-5)            13  9  9  3  0  — 34
Three-point goals: Cuniowski (C) 2, Brown (C) 2, DelSanto (C), Diehl (B), Islam (B) 2, Kenney (B)

Canton 56, HMTCA 41
At Canton
Canton (56) Jenna Cuniowski 5 1-1 11, Sophia Mates 7-0-14, Ashelyn Cebollero 3-0-6, Avery Brown 2-0-4, Gabby DelSanto 0 0-2 0, Avery Miller 0-0-0, Sam Yanke 2-0-4, Madisyn Reardon 2 0-2 4, Julia Lau 3-0-9, Juliana Cavanaugh 2-0-4, Rachel Renaud 0-0-0, Totals: 19 10-12 56
HMTCA (56) Ellie DiChristina 4-0-8, Michelle Sharp 2 1-2 5, Jazlyn Vega 1-0-3, Nyashia Pitts 2-0-5, Destini Jones 0-0-0. Totals: 9 1-2 21
Canton (9-10)           15  9  13  19   – 56
HMTCA (3-14)           6  13  7  15  — 41
Three-point goals: Lau (C) 3, Vega (H), Pitts (H)

NCCC girls basketball 2022