Canton 47, Saranac Lake 43
Canton snuck out a close one on Jan. 24 against a solid Saranac Lake team with a final score of 47-43 in favor of the Golden Bears, a team that had beaten them previously this year on a buzzer-beater as time expired. And the second time they met it was nothing short of amazing, as the Bears prevailed in an overtime thriller.
Both teams went back and forth all night, with the main story of this game being the impeccable defense that was played. Neither team reached above 40 points until overtime. During the third quarter the Bears started to pull away and it looked grim for Saranac, but they were able to battle back and get the game within three points. To start the fourth quarter the gym was filled with energy and excitement, the teams stayed neck and neck all night but with just 10 seconds left in the fourth the Bears were up three. Saranac then drove down the court and drained a heavily contested three pointer to send the game to overtime. Overtime was all Canton, with multiple players fouling out for Saranac the Bears were able to use their size to take over the game. Canton ended up winning the game and getting themselves back into the win column.
Canton 43, Malone 26
Canton took on the number one ranked team in Section X on Friday in the Houli Dome, the Malone Huskies. Canton took down Malone with a final score of 43-26 and stamping themselves as one of the top teams in Section X as playoffs sneak up.
The first half of this game felt like a seesaw, with both teams struggling to score but the game remained close, with the game being within 10 going into the locker room. Then in the third and the fourth quarter the Bears dominated, shutting down any type of momentum that the Huskies got off of a basket, and in the fourth quarter Ryan Jones delivered a dagger from three that gave the Bears a lead of more than 10 and made it just too hard to Malone to come back.
Photos come courtesy of Jay Berkman.
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