Canton 46, Malone 44 (OT)
Canton girls varsity basketball started their week off with an exciting home match against Malone on Dec. 12. The first half went back and forth and was high scoring for both teams. Freshman Olivia White had two threes in the first quarter and had a solid shooting performance in her 13-point game, but the Bears found themselves down five after the first quarter. Unlike the high scoring start to the game, the second quarter was very low scoring with only 14 combined points between the two teams. Canton played aggressive defense and battled to keep the score close but found themselves down two points at the half.
The rest of the game was a nail bitter and both teams had the lead at multiple points throughout the second half. Malone went on a run in the middle of the third, and it looked like they were going to pull away, but a flurry of Ava Hoy baskets sent the Bears on an 8-2 run to end the third quarter tying the game up at 37. Every point mattered in the final quarter and the lead never got above 5 for either team.
Olivia White had a clutch three to tie the game up at 40 and Ava hoy had six of her 18 points in the fourth quarter. These six points came all in a row and kept Canton at a one basket lead throughout the final quarter. With three seconds left in the game, Malone had a chance to tie or win the game. They ran a nice inbound play but Sophomore Vivian Coburn got a piece of the shot and the game ended in a 46-44 win for Canton.
Canton 58, Heuvelton 56 (OT)
Canton’s next match was against the Heuvelton Bulldogs, and it proved to be a good one. The first half was arguably Canton’s best performance of the year thus far. Olivia White had two big threes in the first quarter and ended up scoring 17 points on the night. The Bears continued to dominate and found themselves up 15 at halftime.
Huevelton turned things around and put up 14 in the third quarter, but Canton matched them point for point. With a 15 point lead going into the fourth quarter, many thought the Bears would pull away even more, but this wasn’t the case. Canton felt the pressure of holding onto a big lead and struggled offensively scoring only 7 points in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs, on the other hand, were shooting lights out, with several clutch three pointers, mid-range jumpers and a perfect free throw percentage which put a big dent in Canton’s lead. Multiple lead changes late in the game and big free throws made by Hoy left Canton and Huevelton tied up at 48 going into overtime. Huevelton had momentum on their side and felt like they had the advantage going into overtime, but Canton wasn’t going to roll over. Ava Hoy had 9 of her 32 points in overtime and the Bears pulled ahead. Huevelton struggled to take a lead, and Vivian Coburn put the game away with a free throw with less than a minute to go and the Bears held on for a 58-56 win.
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