Canton’s Matthew Benedetti (10) tied his career-high with 23 points in Tuesday night’s win over SMSA .
HARTFORD, Jan. 31, 2023 – Matthew Benedetti tied a career-high with 23 points as the Canton High boys basketball team beat Sports Medicine Science Academy (SMSA), 55-48 on Tuesday night for their eighth straight win.
Benedetti, who scored nine of Canton’s ten points in the fourth quarter, also had 23 points in a win over these same Tigers last February.
With the victory, Canton (9-4, 8-1 NCCC) maintained their hold on first place in the league with three NCCC games remaining. The Warriors led by three at the half and extended the lead to nine points after three quarters.
Brandon Powell had 20 points for Canton with Khail Thomas scoring eight.
King Shan had 18 points for the defending league champion Tigers with Aston Whittingham adding in 13 points.
Canton returns to the hardwood on Thursday night when they host Cromwell (12-1) at 6:45 p.m. in a challenging non-league contest. The Warriors get back to NCCC action when they visit Ellington on Saturday afternoon with a 1 p.m. matinee start.
The eight-game winning streak is the longest since the Warriors had a program-record 15 game winning streak that ended in the COVID-shortened 2021 season.
Canton 55, SMSA 48
At Hartford
Canton (55) Taylor Kim 0-0-0, Khalil Thomas 2-2-8, Ben Cuniowski 0-1-1, Brandon Powell 7-4-20, Jake Dean 0-0-0, Matthew Benedetti 9-4-23, Ryan Benedetti 1-0-3. Totals 19-11
SMSA (48) King Shan 6-5-18, Aston Whittingham 5-2-13, Nizayiah Bugar 0-1-1, Abijah Miller 2-0-4, Deshawn Thomas 0-0-0, Daniel Hernandez 5-0-10, Zahkeer Kess 1-0-2. Totals 19-8
Canton (9-4) 10 16 19 10 — 55
SMSA (8-5) 11 12 13 12 — 48
Three-point goals: Thomas (Ca), Powell (Ca) 2, M. Benedetti (Ca), Shan (S), Whittingham (S)
| NCCC | Lg. | Overall |
| Canton | 8-1 | 9-4 |
| Windsor Locks | 5-1 | 9-2 |
| Suffield | 5-2 | 10-4 |
| Coventry | 6-3 | 10-6 |
| Somers | 5-3 | 9-5 |
| SMSA | 4-3 | 8-5 |
| Ellington | 4-3 | 11-3 |
| Rockville | 4-4 | 9-7 |
| Stafford | 3-5 | 4-9 |
| Bolton | 2-6 | 6-9 |
| East Granby | 1-6 | 2-11 |
| Granby | 1-6 | 2-12 |
| East Windsor | 0-7 | 1-11 |
| Each team plays 12 league games, once against each other team in the league. | ||
| Tuesday’s results Canton 55, SMSA 48 Granby 48, East Windsor 33 Coventry 65, Rockville 54 Stafford 42, Suffield 40 Ellington 63, Bolton 48 |
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| Thursday’s game Cromwell at Canton, 7 p.m. |
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| Friday’s games SMSA at Suffield Granby at Coventry Ellington at East Granby Somers at Stafford |
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| Saturday’s game Canton at Ellington, 1 p.m. |
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