Undefeated Ellington (22-0) has all the answers in NCCC Tourney win over Canton

Canton’s Brayden Keefe drives to the basket in Monday night’s NCCC Tournament semifinal in Suffield. Top seed Ellington beat Canton, 61-58. More game photos

SUFFIELD, Feb. 24, 2025 – They may be young but the Ellington High basketball team has been tested during the course of their undefeated campaign.

The Purple Knights, who start a freshman and three sophomores, ran the table during the regular season going 20-0 and winning their first North Central Connecticut Conference championship since 1989.

Most notably, Ellington prevailed in a battle with defending league champion Sports Medicine Science Academy (SMSA) from Hartford just 10 days ago with a 65-63 victory.

The Purple Knights didn’t panic or get nervous in Monday night’s NCCC Tournament semifinal when Canton, a team that Ellington beat by 19 points in January, took a lead in the third quarter or cut the Purple Knights lead to two with 50 seconds remaining.

“We know what we need to do,” Ellington head coach Robert Freitas said. “These are young players. They’re getting better every day.”

Ellington (22-0) made some timely defensive stops to push back an upset by Canton in a 61-58 victory in Monday’s NCCC Tournament semifinal at Suffield High. In Wednesday’s championship game, the Purple Knights will face SMSA, who erased a six-point deficit in the second half, to beat Coventry, 63-53.

“It goes back to playing some close game,” Freitas said. “You have to play until the end. We made some mistakes but we came up with plays on the defensive end. When you get to the tournament, you’re going to get their best.”

Canton (15-7) came into the game with victories in six of their last seven games. The Warriors didn’t have the services of senior forward David Grabowski, who was on crutches thanks to a foot injury.

But the Warriors played with heart, passion and pride throughout the contest.

“A great effort,” Canton head coach Dan Goscinski said. “That’s an undefeated team. They’re 22-0 and we’re as good as them and we can play with them. Our kids learned that tonight and it has to drive them forward to the state tournament where we will (probably) see them again.”

The Warriors are expected to be seeded eighth in the upcoming CIAC Division IV tournament and may face Ellington, the probable No. 1 seed, in the quarterfinals if Canton and the Knights prevail in their opening round contests.

Canton’s Tate Bemis, left, and Jayden Young play tough defense in Monday night’s NCCC Tournament semifinal game in Suffield. More game photos

Ellington’s sophomore guard Jack Curtis led all scorers with 29 points while freshman Reese Nichol added 17 for the Knights.

Canton was led by junior Brayden Keefe with a team-high 20 points, including five shots from three-point range. Ryan Cuniowski scored 14 points while Jayden Young and Tate Bemis each added 11 points.

Ellington raced out to a 19-9 lead after one quarter before Canton rebounded with 23 points in the second quarter, led by Keefe with 13 points and three shots from three-point range to cut the lead to one at halftime, 33-32.

Ellington had a four-point lead late in the third quarter after Curtis hit a three-pointer but Bemis responded immediately with a three-pointer of his own from the corner. After the Warriors forced a turnover, it was Young driving to the basket to give Canton a 43-42 lead with 2:22 remaining in the third quarter.

The score was tied at 46-46 after three quarters. Ellington had blocks on each of Canton’s first two possessions of the fourth quarter with Curtis scoring in the lane and sophomore Ty Fieldhouse completing a three-point play to give Ellington a five-point lead, 51-46.

Canton cut the lead to one, 53-52, with 4:05 remaining after Keefe intercepted an Ellington pass and Cuniowski finished off the play with a basket in the lane and converted on a foul shot.

Ellington forced turnovers on Canton’s next two possessions and pushed the lead back to five. The Warriors missed nine of 16 foul shots in the game and that didn’t help.

The lead swelled to six before Cuniowski drove to the basket with 1:14 remaining to cut the lead back to four points. Bemis stole the ball when Ellington was supposed to inbound the basketball under the Canton basket. Bemis tossed the ball to Cuniowski, scored to cut the lead to two, 60-58, with 50 seconds left.

Canton forced a turnover when Ellington committed a shot clock violation and had the ball with 9.9 seconds left with a chance to tie or take the lead with a three-point shot. But the Warriors couldn’t get a good shot off.

In game two, SMSA held Coventry without a field goal over a stretch of 7:32 from late in the third period until 1:20 left regulation. During that span, the Tigers 18-7 to take command of the game.

The game was tied 40-40 after SMSA’s Ashton Whittingham drove to the basket with 38.1 seconds left in the third quarter. But SMSA went on a 12-2 run to extend their lead to 52-42. SMSA used its quickness to harass the Patriots and pull down plenty of loose ball rebounds.

Shamar Watton led SMSA with 21 points while Whittington added 19. Kristian Bici led Coventry with 23 points while Eric Jordan hit for 12 points thanks to four 3-point goals.

On Wednesday, SMSA will be shooting for their fifth straight NCCC Tournament championship. Ellington is looking for their first NCCC Tournament championship since 1982. The Purple Knights have played in three of the last six NCCC Tournament finals, losing to Granby (2019), SMSA (2021 and 2023).

Ellington 61, Canton 58
At Suffield
Canton (58) Tate Bemis 4-0-11, Jayce Tucker 0-0-0, Ryan Cuniowski 5-4-14, James Canny 0-0-0, Jayden Young 5-0-11, Brayden Keefe 6-2-20, Shane Leadbetter 0-0-0, Chase Alhgren 0-0-0, Mike Valenti 0-0-0, Wyatt Bernabucci 0-0-0. Totals 20 7-16 58
Ellington (61) Reese Nicol 6-3-17, Ty Fieldhouse 1-1-3, Jack Curtis 12-4-29, Dylan Killoran 3-1-7, Jack Weigand 0-1-1. Andrew Flickenschild 1-0-2. Totals 23 10-22 61
Canton (15-7)            9  23  14  12  –  58
Ellington (22-0)     19  14  13  15  — 61
Three-point goals: Bemis (C) 3, Keefe (C) 5, Young (C), Nichol (Ell) 2, Curtis (Ell)