Canton 49, Madrid-Waddington 36
Canton faced off against Madrid-Waddington on Saturday for the Class C Championship. The Bears came in as the one seed after knocking off Norwood-Norfolk to reach the Championship game. Madrid-Waddington went into the game as the two seed after squeaking out a six-point victory over St. Lawrence Central.
The first quarter started off very physical, with a combined nine free throw attempts between the two teams, but it was Canton who was winning the physical battle. The Bears held the Yellowjackets to only four points compared to Canton’s 10. The second quarter saw more scoring than the first, a combined 27 points were scored in the second quarter to the 14 scored in the first. Canton had a successful offensive quarter with a total of 16 points in which they had two three-pointers. The Bears maintained and stretched their lead to 11 at the half and felt good going into the locker room.
But Madrid-Waddington was there to play. The Yellowjackets started the second half off hot and cut into Canton’s lead. The Bears struggled to score and Madrid-Waddington took advantage of it, outscoring Canton by four. Canton kept the lead, but it stayed in reach. The Yellowjackets needed a big fourth quarter, but Winnie Downs had other plans. Downs scored nine points in the fourth quarter and went 5/6 on the free-throw line. Canton’s 18-point quarter secured the win and sent them to states.
“MW is a well-coached team that played solid defense,” said Coach Jim DiSalvo after the game. “They jumped the passing lanes and made it difficult to run our offense at times.”
Canton will move on with a first-round bye and will host the winner of Section II vs Section VII.
Box Score: Ava Hoy 14, Olivia White 13, Winnie Downs 12, and Calie Klassen 10.
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