In Canton on Monday Evening – Harrisville 63, Canton 60
Canton’s Ryan Jones capped a furious, come-from-behind effort with a layup to tie the score, 60-60, with 8.3 seconds to play, but Harrisville’s Joseph Shephard hit a three-pointer from the right wing as time expired to lift the Pirates to a 63-60 win, spoiling the Golden Bears’ boys basketball home opener on Monday night.
Jones rebounded a Harrisville missed free throw and drove the length of the floor to hit the contested layup to tie the score.
Canton struggled in the early going, as Harrisville, the Section X Class D runners-up last season, built a 31-21 halftime lead. The Golden Bears, however, chipped away at the lead in the third quarter, with Charlie Todd’s three-pointer with less than 1:30 remaining in the third giving Canton a 38-37 lead. Jones added a long two-pointer in the closing seconds of the quarter to give Canton a 40-37 lead going into the final frame.
Harrisville would not let the Golden Bears extend that lead to any more than three points in the fourth quarter, however, and used a 9-0 run to build a 48-42 lead with a little more than five minutes to play.
Things looked bleak for Canton as Harrisville led by seven with less than two minutes to play, but Jones and sophomore Zadok Roiger combined for seven points, including Roiger’s second three-pointer of the contest with 23.5 seconds to play, to cut Harrisville’s lead to 59-58. Canton fouled on the in-bounds pass and the Pirates went one-for-two at the line, setting up Jones’ game-tying drive.
Jones led all scorers with 25 points, while Roiger netted a career-best 17 points in his second varsity start. Jackson Ames added nine points, including a clutch three-pointer in the fourth quarter.
Tanner Sullivan scored 18 points to lead Harrisville, while Shephard added 17 points. The Pirates featured a balanced offense, as Brennan Loos and Nolan Sullivan were also in double digits, scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Coach Troy Lassial commented following the game, “An 0-2 start to our season is not something we have worked for or are happy about. The fact is that Westhill is the defending Class B State Champion and this Harrisville team has to be a favorite to win the Class D State Championship this season. They are talented from top to bottom, well coached and play hard. We are in good company battling with either of these teams this early in the season.”
Canton, now 0-2 on the season, will travel to Norwood-Norfolk for their first NAC Central contest of the season, on Wednesday night.
