OFF AND RUNNING: Canton dominant in district win over Plymouth
Canton senior Marisa Cribari beats Plymouth’s defense down the court before laying in two of her seven points Monday night.
The tallest (McKinsey Berlin) to the smallest (Elizabeth Persinger) players on the Canton girls basketball team’s roster — and pretty much everyone else in between — made an impact on the Chiefs’ convincing 49-25 victory over Plymouth in Monday’s Division 1 district-opener.
A 6-foot-1 freshman, Berlin scored a game-high 18 points by knocking down threes, swishing mid-ranges jumpers and finishing off fast-breaks with the composure of an upperclassman.
She also blocked and altered multiple Wildcat shots at the defensive end, providing fuel to the Chiefs’ potent fast-break.
Persinger, a sophomore who stands right around 5-feet tall, played pesky defense, swished a three-point shot of her own and even hustled after her missed triple try in the second quarter and snatched an offensive rebound amongst players close to a foot taller than her.
Building insurmountable lead
The victory propelled Canton into Wednesday’s 5:30 p.m. district semifinal game against host Salem.
To check out video highlights from Monday’s contest, click here.
Thanks in large part to the efforts of the pair of underclassmen, Canton gradually turned a 13-10 first-quarter lead into a 24-point win that was punctuated by holding a potentially potent Plymouth offense to zero points in the fourth quarter.
“We were getting some good looks early that we weren’t making, due partly I think to the jitters that come with playing in the districts,” said Canton Head Coach Kayla Bridges. “But as the game went along, we settled down and played a lot better.”
Berlin’s steady improvement over the course of the season — combined with 6-foot senior Justice Tramble’s upper-echelon play — has helped the Chiefs establish a formidable twin towers threat in the paint.
Tramble finished with 10 points while grabbing eight rebounds.
Seniors Marisa Cribari (seven points) and Maya Joiner (six points) were also game-changing contributors to the winners’ balanced attack.
Canton’s Berlin wall
But Berlin was the one who unquestionably earned MVP status for at least one night for Canton’s deep and dangerous squad.
“McKinsey started the season playing at a high level, but there were some little things she had to work on that freshmen always need to improve when they’re playing at the high school varsity basketball,” Bridges said.
“She is very coachable. Her poise and composure are unbelievable. Not much gets to her.”
Persinger’s offensive rebound, which earned a standing ovation from the Chiefs’ bench, was just a microcosm of Bridges’ insistence on her team hitting the glass with a relentless hunger.
“Back in the day, I was an undersized post player in high school, so I learned how important it is to rebound and earn your team extra possessions,” she said. “Elizabeth, and all of our guards really, are scrappy and not afraid to go inside with the bigs. I love that about them.”
Happy for Ella
In an example of Canton’s all-for-one chemistry, the Chiefs’ starters ecstatically jumped in unison while on the bench late in the game when senior Ella Fournier scored her only bucket of the night.
Given the joy the players expressed for their seldom-playing teammate, you would have thought Fournier’s 10-foot make was a buzzer-beating game-winner — but the way the Chiefs ramped up their performance as the game moved along, it proved to simply be icing on a post-season-opening cakewalk.
Plymouth showed massive improvement this season, earning 14 victories. The Wildcats were tied for first in the KLAA West Division mid-way through the conference schedule, but struggled to post wins the second half of the season.
The Wildcats’ downfall on Monday was allowing too many second and third shots to the Chiefs, who are hard to beat when they get one shot per possession, let along two or three.
Sophomore Mackenzie Dicken led Plymouth with 10 points. Evelyn Stiglish added five.
Seniors Zaynab Saab and Elena DiMaria — both big-time contributors to the Wildcats’ offense this season, combined for just four points.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
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