They hustled on defense, grabbed key rebounds and relaxed on offense, taking time off the clock and keeping the ball out of Granby's hands. The visiting Bears, 20-0 a year ago, made just two field goals and scored just four points in the final four minutes of regulation and in overtime.
Canton's Chris Robitaille grabbed a rebound after a missed foul shot and banked it in with 3:29 remaining in regulation to cut trim the Granby lead to two. In overtime, McLellan grabbed a rebound from a missed shot by Dwayne Rivers with 19.1 seconds left and put it back in to help Canton remain undefeated with a 63-61 OT victory.
Canton improved to 7-0, snapped a six-game losing streak against Granby and earned its second OT victory of the season.
Rivers, a 6-foot senior guard, led the Warriors with a career-high 24 points while Getz had 13 points and 10 rebounds. McLellan added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
"We're a team," said tri-captain Joey Dionne. "Every night, it can be someone different. We're not afraid to step up."
Granby's All-State guard Jeff Robinson had 32 points, including 18 in the second half. It was the most he has ever scored against the Warriors. But after he raced to the basket for a layup with 5:28 left in regulation, he never scored again.
"We played scrappy defense," Canton coach Eric Deegan said. "Robinson made a lot of tough baskets but we made them take some tough shots and that helped us."
With Canton trailing by four in regulation, Rivers drove down the center of the lane and his floating layup fell through to cut the lead to two, 57-55 with
2:03 remaining. At the other end, McLellan blocked a Robinson shot. Granby retained possession but when the shot rolled off the rim, Rivers had the rebound.
Rivers had eight points in the fourth quarter and OT for Canton. "He is very confident in the clutch," Deegan said. "He knows when it is his time."
In overtime, Canton took a 59-57 lead when Robitaille scored in the low post with 2:44 left. Canton went up by four, 61-57 with 2:00 left when Rivers drove the ball down the center of the lane and scored.
Two baskets from Granby's Colin Keith tied the game but McLellan's game-winning basket after he corralled a miss from Rivers with 19.1 seconds left was the difference.
McLellan had a team-high 13 points while Dionne, Rivers and Jim Purcell had 10 each in a 63-45 win over Bolton last week. Canton's 7-0 start ties the best start in team history. The 1981-82 team also won its first seven games.
"It's beyond where I thought we would be at this point," Deegan said. "But we still have room for improvement." Indeed, the Warriors were a frigid 10-of-25 from the free throw line against Granby.
GIRLS BASKETBALL: Canton's first win of the season came over Cheney Tech-Manchester, 57-10, in the consolation game of the East Windsor Holiday Tournament was nice for the Warriors but girls basketball coach Jeanne Holian was honest in her assessment of the opposition.
Cheney Tech wasn't very good. But it gave the young Warriors a rare opportunity to stretch their legs and excel. Melissa Parente had a career-high 20 points against Cheney Tech.
Canton (1-7, 0-2 NCCC) dropped a pair of games to Bolton, 47-19, and Granby, 51-35, last week. Canton starts four freshmen and sometimes, there are five freshmen on the floor.
"They're freshmen playing against juniors and seniors," she said. "But their attitude is good, they play hard and don't give up. If we keep working hard and improve in the next few years, we should have something nice here."
In the loss to Bolton, Sarah Getz had a team-high 10 points. Against Granby, it was Parente who led the way with nine points while Danielle Coutu added seven.
"We have spurts when we play well," Holian said. "There are moments when you say they can do this. And then there are moments when the youth kicks in."
Against Granby, Canton trailed by two, 10-8 after one quarter but was outscored badly in the next two quarters. Against Bolton, Canton outscored Bolton,
15-8 in the third quarter but they were down by 22 at the half.
INDOOR TRACK: Kim Powell earned the first individual victory in the history of the young girls indoor track program with a win in the 1,000 meters at the Shoreline Conference Invitational at the New Haven Athletic Center.
Powell won the race in 3:14.14, over a second ahead of Lyme-Old Lyme's Lisa Russell. Powell also finished second in the 3,200 meters in 12.06.10, about 16 seconds behind the winner.
Christa Turbach finished fourth in the long jump with a leap of 15 feet, 7 inches and took eighth in the 300 meter dash in 46.33.
Canton's 1,600-meter sprint medley relay team also finished third as the Warriors finished eighth overall in the field of 28 teams with 28 points.
Jasen Watson and Nate Bussiere also competed for the Canton boys. Watson finished 11th in the 55 meter dash (7.06) and fourth in the 300 meters (38.02). Bussiere was fourth in the 600 meters (1.28.55) and 17th in the long jump (17-04).
WRESTLING: The Warriors (4-10, 1-1 NCCC) finished seventh in the Northwestern Regional Duals with a 45-36 victory over East Catholic. Canton also beat Rocky Hill, 54-30, in the tournament. The Warriors did fall to Suffield (48-25), which won the tournament, Morgan, 42-36, and Wolcott Tech, 48-31.
Last week, Avon handed Canton its first conference loss of the year, 65-9.
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