Monday, February 12

The Colebrook Mohawks dominated the first half of action Monday night against Canaan en route to a 71-36 trouncing of the Eagles. The defensive pressure from the Mohawks forced handfuls of turnovers which led to easy baskets in transition. The Eagles struggled to find shots on the offensive end, and struggled to stop shots from going in on the defensive end. The second half was much less hectic as both teams rotated their benches into the game.

The Mohawks sent a message on their opening possession. After a miss underneath from Zack Daley, the Mohawks quickly moved the ball up the court to Ryan Rossitto for a three-pointer. The onslaught would continue, with the Mohawks lead swelling over twenty in the opening quarter. The lone points for the Eagles came late in the quarter on a nice turnaround jumper from Jason Charest.

Colebrook continued to find and hit open shots against the Canaan zone in the second quarter. Canaan coach Nelson Mayhew switched to man-to-man defense in an effort to stifle the outside shooting and limit offensive rebound opportunities for the Mohawks. However, the Mohawks went to a smaller, faster lineup and exploited the Eagles lack of quickness and depth. By halftime, the Mohawks had built an insurmountable lead at 45-10.

The Eagles showed signs of life in the second half, as the Mohawks could not build upon their halftime lead. Zack Daley, after being shut out in the first half connected with a pair of three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to open the third quarter. The scoring went back and forth, but the Mohawks never lost control of the game. The Eagles got a nice contribution off the bench from TJ Hill, who netted 8 points in the final quarter.

The loss drops the Eagles' record to 10-6 with one huge game remaining on the schedule. With a win Wednesday night over Bishops, the Eagles would likely remain at the 5 seed in the standings, but another loss could prove costly.