Erratic play disappears as Canton rallies to beat Thomaston

Canton’s Ruby Theberge scored a game-high 23 points in Tuesday night’s win over Thomaston.

By RICK WILSON
Special to The Collinsville Press
THOMASTON, Dec. 30, 2025  – There is no magic switch to turn the good stuff on and the bad stuff off. But there are timeouts and while they are hardly a guarantee to fix what ails you, they have their moments.

Take Canton for example. The Warriors were not treading water; they were sinking midway through the third period of Tuesday night’s contest against Thomaston. The Bears had scored five straight points to start the period and built up the largest lead of the game, 27-18.

The two teams then exchanged baskets and that was about it for Warriors coach Brian Medeiros who had seen more than enough. Down 29-21 he took a timeout. Talk about a magic elixir. Execution replaced the erratic and The Warriors dominated the final 12 minutes with a game-changing 22-5 run and won going away, 43-34.

The loss was Thomaston’s first after three wins while Canton raised its record to 4-1.

“We challenged the kids and told them that we need to be better and more consistent on both sides of the ball,” Medeiros said of the timeout conversation. “We needed to get back to the basics, move the ball on offense and get out hands up on defense.”

Mission accomplished. Ruby Theberge started the comeback with an offensive rebound basket and was instrumental in completing the turnaround. She scored twelve of the team’s final 22 points burying a trio of three pointers along the way and finished with a game-high 23 points.

“Ruby shot really well today,” Medeiros said. “She scores a lot of points but has been struggling lately. She’s a great kid and I was glad to see her shoot well tonight.”

Riley Ahlgren and Helen Canny (9 points) followed Theberge’s foul shot with baskets to cut the deficit to 29-27 and then Theberge was at it again with a three-pointer to give Canton a 30-29 lead that it would never relinquish.

“You have to pick you poison with them, and I knew Theberge hadn’t been shooting well,” Thomaston coach Brian Mozelak said. “She hurt us tonight.”

Theberge added another three-pointer in a run that reached 14 straight points and a 35-29 lead before Brynn Beaudoin finally broke the Golden Bears’ four-minute scoreless streak with a basket one minute into the fourth quarter.

After Emily DosAnjos (9 points) dumped in a bucket for Thomaston to make it a two-point game, 35-33, Canton reeled off 8-1 spurt keyed by three-pointers from Theberge and Canny to seal the outcome, 43-34.

Thomaston struggled with Canton’s pressure defense and never found any offensive rhythm in the second half.

“If we get into spots with our hands up, we knew certain kids were going to get the ball that weren’t comfortable handling it,” Medeiros said.

The game was infused with long runs with the Warriors using a 10-point bolt to take a 12-8 first quarter lead. Thomaston returned the favor with a 12-2 spurt taking an 18-14 lead. The Bears led, 22-18, at the half.

Medeiros saw the game as a step forward.

“Our group is still trying to figure out leadership and who we are as a team. A game like today is good for us.”

Canton 43, Thomaston 34
At Thomaston
Canton (43) Ruby Theberge 9-1-23, Kenze Yanke 0-0-0, Riley Ahlgren 2-0-5, Helen Canny 3-1-9, Emery Howard 0-0-0, Lucy O’Connor 1-0-2, Macy McCullough 2-0-4, Totals 18-1-43
Thomaston (34) Aylin Lahey 3-2-9, Emma Harkness 0-0-0, Brynn Beaudoin 2-1-5, Madison Decker 1-0-3, Addison Patchell 0-0-1, Emily DosAnjos 6-0-12, Totals 14-4-34
Halftime: Thomaston, 22-18
Three-Point Goals: Theberge (C) 4, Ahlgren (C), Canny (C); Lahey (T), Decker (T); Records: Canton 4-1, Thomaston 3-1