
Canton shut down Nonnewaug in the final three minutes to win the Holiday Hardwood Showcase Saturday night in Canton. (Photo courtesy Dan Goscinski)
Trailing by seven points with 2:57 in regulation in the championship game of the first Holiday Hardwood Showcase tournament, the Canton High boys basketball team called timeout.
First-year coach Dan Goscinski instructed the Warriors to put full-court pressure on visiting Nonnewaug. “I don’t think they can handle playing that way for three minutes,” he told his squad.
The pressure paid off. Canton scored nine of the last 11 points in the game to beat Nonnewaug, 69-67 and capture the Holiday Hardwood Showcase championship Saturday night in Canton.
“We’re trying to build a culture of toughness here,” Goscinski said. “We’re moving in the right direction winning in the last two nights the way we did. We’re closing out close games right now and that is what really good teams do.”
Canton handed Nonnewaug (3-1) their first loss of the season and on Friday night, the Warriors handed St. Paul (3-1) their first loss of the year in a 63-57 win.
Senior David Grabowski had a game-high 23 points with Tate Bemis adding 22 for the Warriors. Grabowski had seven points in the fourth quarter with Bemis adding six.
After Canton tied the game, Nonnewaug took a two-point lead in the final minute, 67-65. With the ball, the Warriors were working for a game-tying shot. Bemis made an acrobatic play to keep the ball in play and fired a pass to Grabowsky who was racing through the lane.
Grabowski scored and was fouled on the play. He sank the free throw to give Canton a 68-67 lead. The Warriors made a stop defensively and got the ball back with 35 seconds remaining.
Ryan Cuniowski sank one of two free throws with 14 seconds left to give Canton a 69-67 lead.
The Warriors played hard-nosed defense in the final 14 seconds and Nonnewaug was unable to get a good shot off, ensuring a Warriors victory.
Goscinski said Jayce Tucker and James Canny played exceptional defense in the final minutes of the contest. “They were spark plugs defensively,” Goscinski said. “We just did a good job of turning the tide.”
Cuniowski and Brayden Keefe each had nine points for Canton, now 3-1.
“That was a state-tournament caliber game,” Goscinski said.
Matt Shupenis led the Chiefs with 22 points with Lincoln Nicholas adding 20. Herman had 14 points for Nonnewaug, who led by eight at the half and by four after three quarters.
Grabowski and Bemis were named to the All-Tournament team and were named co-MVP of the tournament. Brookfield’s Daniel Ciriello, St. Paul’s Sean McMahon and Nonnewaug’s Brady Herman were named to the All-Tournament team.
St. Paul beat Brookfield, 61-42 in Saturday’s consolation game.
With the victory, Canton won their first in-season tournament since December 2022 when they beat Wamogo to win the Litchfield Hills Holiday Classic. That win was Canton’s first tournament win since December 1992 when they won the Farmington Christmas tournament with a 47-45 win over Granby in the championship game.
It was just the third time that Canton faced Nonnewaug on the hardwood and the first time since 2020.
Canton returns to action on Friday, Jan. 3 when the Warriors head to Hartford to challenge defending NCCC champion SMSA.
Canton 69, Nonnewaug 67
At Canton
Nonnewaug (67) Lincoln Nichols 8-3-20, Robert Metcalfe 3-0-6, Brady Herman 5-4-14, Billy Herr 1-1-4, Matt Shupenis 8-5-22, Thomas Lengyel 0-1-1. Totals 25-14-21 67
Canton (69) Tate Bemis 7-3-22, Jayce Tucker 1-0-2, Ryan Cuniowski 2-5-9, James Canny 0-0-0, Brayden Keefe 3-2-9, Jayden Young 1-0-2, David Grabowski 11-1-23, Chase Alhgren 1-0-2, Mike Valenti 0-0-0, Wyatt Bernabucci 0-0-0. Totals 26 11-15 69
Nonnewaug (3-1) 14 19 19 15 — 67
Canton (3-1) 11 14 20 24 — 69
Three-point goals: Bemis (C) 5, Keefe (C), Nichols (N), Herr (N), Shupenis (N)
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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