Photos courtesy of Jay Berkman and Paula Jones
The Canton boys’ basketball team used a balanced offense and their signature suffocating defense to beat Tupper Lake 51-29 on Tuesday night at SUNY Potsdam’s Maxcy Hall to advance to the Section X Overall Championship final and extend its winning streak to 15 games.
The Golden Bears (20-3), ranked fifth in New York State among Class B schools by the New York State Sportswriter’s Association, will face Harrisville (21-2), the Class D champions and 61-47 winner over Massena in the other semifinal game, in a rematch of an early December contest. Harrisville, ranked fourth in Class D, handed Canton one of just three losses this season, 63-60, on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Opening tipoff on Friday night is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. at Maxcy Hall, following the Girls’ Section X Overall Championship game.
Ryan Jones was 10-for-10 from the free throw line to lead the Golden Bears’ offense with 16 points, five assists and five rebounds. Zadok Roiger was 5-for-9 from the floor for 12 points, and he also blocked three shots. Talan Green added 10 points, while Ethan Francey scored eight, all in the first half.
Unlike the Section X Class B Championship game against Potsdam, which featured a 30-0 Canton run to start the game, Tuesday night’s game was a grind-it-out victory for Canton. The Golden Bears led 11-7 at the end of the first quarter and 24-11 at the half. Tupper Lake played a strong third quarter, and Canton led by just 12 points going into the final frame, but the Golden Bears pulled away thanks to solid defense and pair of timely 3-pointers by Green.
Canton senior Griffin Scafidi-McGuire grabbed three rebounds and played key minutes off the bench, filling in for junior John Wilcox, who missed the game due to illness.
Canton struggled a bit offensively, especially from the perimeter, shooting 18-for-48 (37.5%) from the floor and just 2-for-15 (13.3%) from behind the 3-point arc.
Defensively, however, the Bears shined once again, holding the offensively-minded Lumberjacks to a season-low 29 points. Tupper Lake (19-4), the Section X Class C champions, came into the contest averaging more than 70 points per game and had been held to less than 50 points just twice this season. Their previous season-low scoring output came in a 49-46 loss to Saranac Lake on December 22.
Tupper Lake was lead by Thomas Petersen with 18 points. Peterson, Tupper Lake’s all-time leading scorer and the NAC East MVP, was presented with Joe Jukoski Award, given each year by the NNY Officials Board to the Most Outstanding Boys Basketball Player in Section X, following the game. Jones, the NAC Central Co-MVP, was also a finalist for the award.
Jones and Francey were announced as First Team All-Northern selections for the Bears, with Roiger earning Second-Team recognition. Head Coach Troy Lassial was named the NAC Central Coach of the Year after leading the team to a perfect 14-0 conference record for just the second time in program history.
Regardless of the outcome of Friday night’s contest, Canton will play in a New York State Class B Regional final next Saturday, March 9, against the winner of a first-round contest between the Section II and Section VII Class B champions.
