BLACKSTONE, Mass. – Canton and Avon played to each other’s level throughout much of the first half of play Monday night, but a 15-0 run in the third quarter lifted the Bulldogs over the Panthers in the opening round of the Blackstone-Millville Holiday Tournament.
With Avon within striking distance at 32-29 in the third quarter, Canton went to work to turn their slim lead into a blowout win. Griffin Jerrier started the Bulldog’s 15-0 run with a three-point play, and Joe Bires added two free throws and a basket to up the Canton lead to 10. Jamal Robert then knocked down a three and Joe Peccia scored another basket with over 11 minutes left in the contest. A Peccia free throw and Bires basket capped the stretch that gave Canton a 47-29 lead.
Rishi Jambunathan knocked down a three from the same spot in the right corner on three consecutive possessions during a fourth quarter that fell 23-7 in Canton’s favor. The Bulldogs outscored Avon 50-19 in the final frame, and that translated into a 79-42 win for Canton, its first of the season.
“We kind of got hot,” Canton head coach Ryan Gordy said. “They were playing a zone and we got to move the ball around a little bit. One of our players, Rishi Jambunathan, he kind of got it going a little bit. He had a couple of threes during the run. But really it was our defense, we got a few stops that led to easy baskets, which helped.”
Avon came out with more intensity than Canton in the first half. Ildo Goncalves scored 12 points for the Panthers, eight of them from the line, as the point guard sparked Avon to just a six point deficit at halftime. Canton came out firing in the second half, though, as the game sped up and the Panthers fell behind.
“We talked about pace at halftime,” Gordy said. “It was a slowed-down pace. Part of it was officiating, there were a lot of fouls called which slowed the game down. But once we stopped fouling and we got into a little bit of a rhythm, things kind of went our way.”
Jambunathan finished the game as the leading scorer, recording 22 points on 8 of 12 shooting, 6 of 10 from behind the arc. Jerrier added 16 points and seven rebounds, as his size and speed was unmatched by Avon in the second half.
“He had a great offseason, he worked really hard on his shot, and he’s come a long way,” Gordy said of Jambunathan. “He’s one of those kids that’s just a gym rat, and it paid off in a game like tonight.”
Canton advances to the Championship Game of the Blackstone-Millville Holiday Tournament and will face Burrillville (RI) at 7 PM Tuesday night in Blackstone.