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Canton, Lewis Mills advance to respective holiday tournament title games

Canton’s Brayden Keefe had 16 points in Friday night’s win over St. Paul in the Holiday Harwood Showcase. (Photo courtesy Paul Amrose)

CANTON, Dec. 27, 2024 – Tate Bemis and Brayden Keefe each scored 16 points to lead the Canton High boys basketball team to a 63-57 victory over St. Paul in the semifinal of the Holiday Hardwood Showcase in Canton on Friday night.

Canton (2-1) advances to Saturday’s tournament championship game against Nonnewaug (3-0) at 6 p.m. Nonnewaug beat Brookfield, 77-48 in the other semifinal game.

Keefe drained a game-high four 3-point shots while Bemis sank three. Canton hit nine shots from three-point range in the win. Jayden Young added 10 for the Warriors, who handed St. Paul their first loss of the season.

St. Paul (3-1) was led by Ethan Clements with a game-high 24 points. Sean McMahon added 12 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for the visiting Falcons, who will play Brookfield in Saturday’s consolation game that begins at 4 p.m.

Holiday Hardwood Showcase
Canton 63, St. Paul 57
At Canton

St. Paul (57) Ethan Clements 8-6-24, Sean McMahon 5-1-12, Lamar Frazier 2-0-4, Amir Sumter 1-1-3, Mike Rigsby 3-0-6, Nicholas Leggett0-0-0, Cooper Antolini 1-0-3, Coby Dagata 2-1-5. Totals 22 9-14 57
Canton (63) Tate Bemis 6-1-16, Evan Cuniowski 2-3-7, Brayden Keefe 5-2-16, Jayden Young 5-0-12, David Grabowski 3-4-10, Mike Valenti 1-0-2, Chase Alhgren 0-0-0, Wyatt Bernabucci 0-0-0. Totals 22 10-12 63
St. Paul (3-1)   11  14  12  20  — 57
Canton (2-1)   7  20  16  20  — 63
Three-point goals: Bemis (C) 3, Keefe (C) 4, Young (C) 2, Clements (SP) 2, McMahon (SP), Antolini (SP)

Lewis Mills 53, Lakeview 41
FARMINGTON, Dec. 27, 2024 – Tommy Dinunzio scored a game-high 24 points and pulled 13 rebounds as Lewis Mills beat Lakeview High from Litchfield, 53-41, in the semifinal of The Valley vs. The Hills Holiday Tournament at Farmington on Friday night.

Lewis Mills (2-1) advances to Monday night’s championship game against Granby at 7 p.m. in Farmington. Granby beat host Farmington, 45-30, in Friday’s second semifinal game.

Mills trailed by five at the half by three after three periods. But the Spartans gave up just seven points in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

Gavin Daly had 16 points with five assists and two steals while Logan Carrano added 10 to spark Mills.

Patrick Weaving had 11 points for Lakeview (1-3). It’s the first season for Lakeville, the new Region 20 school consisting of students from Litchfield, Warren, Morris and Goshen. Lakeview will face Farmington (1-3) in Monday night’s consolation game beginning at 5:15 p.m.

Valley vs. Hills Holiday Tournament
Lewis Mills 53, Lakeview 41
At Farmington
Lakeview (41) Max Guma 2-0-4, DJ Willenbrock 1-0-2, Quinn Coffey 3-0-6, Jack Gollow 4-0-8, Cole Karpicki 2-0-4, Patrick Weaving 5-1-11, Joe Sepples 3-0-6, Totals 20-1-41
Lewis Mills (53) Gavin Daly 4-8-16, Will Green 0-0-0, Logan Carrano 3-1-10, Tommy Dinunzio 9-5-24, Chad Edmond 1-1-3, Gage Kosak 0-0-0, Ethan Braddock 0-0-0. Totals 17-15-53
Lakeview (1-3)                   8  14  12    7  — 41
Lewis Mills (2-1)             12    5  14  13  — 53
Three-point goals: Carrano (LM) 3, Dinunzio (LM)

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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