Balanced Attack Leads Stoughton High Girls’ Basketball to Victory

With five players scoring between nine and 13 points, the used a balanced scoring attack to beat on the road Tuesday night, 56-46, spoiling the Bulldogs’ Senior Night.

After trailing at the end of the first quarter (12-7) and at the end of the second quarter (23-21), the Black Knights turned in a strong second half, earning a ten-point victory.

With the win, Stoughton improves to 11-5 on the season. Canton falls to 7-10.

“We showed some composure down the [stretch] so I’m pleased with that,” Stoughton coach Janet Sullivan said. “Canton came out firing tonight.”

“We had balanced scoring and that’s tough for Canton to stop,” Sullivan continued.

Emma Zuk led Stoughton with 13 points. Chrystal Holland had 11 points. Nicole Daniels and Katherine Chlus each had 10 points, and Jackie Kuhn had 9. Mackenzie McGrath chipped in with a three-pointer to round out the scoring for the Black Knights.

“If you look at the stat sheet, everyone scored, helping out and playing a team game,” Holland said.

Stoughton trailed by two at the half, but a 21-point third quarter helped the Black Knights take a six-point lead, 42-36, heading into the final quarter. Stoughton outscored Canton 14-10 in the final frame, to extend the lead.

“In the second half we got aggressive, we got steals and ran our offense,” Daniels said.

“Rebounding was really key,” Kuhn said. “We weren’t boxing out as much as we should have but we pulled through in the end. We kept the intensity going.”

Canton’s Olivia Murphy led the Bulldogs with 24 points, despite Stoughton covering her with multiple defenders. But, where Stoughton had a balanced attack, beyond Murphy, Canton couldn’t generate additional offense.

She scored 14 of Canton’s 23 points in the second half.

Stoughton plays in the Hockomock League Crossover game on Friday. The Black Knights travel to at 6 p.m. in a matchup between the second place Davenport Division team (Stoughton) and second place Kelley-Rex Division team (Mansfield).

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Check out a postgame interview with Nicole Daniels, Jackie Kuhn and Chrystal Holland in the media gallery above.