Canton 56, Malone 32
This home game was a rematch for the Bears from a game before Christmas that they won 50-39. This game went much more swimmingly as their offense was humming all throughout and their defense was suffocating.
The game started out 2-2 but swiftly after, the lead had ballooned to 12 after a flurry of points (12 to be exact) in a three minute span. The home team was playing with a different type of fluidity that they really hadn’t seen in a long time on offense. On every play, they just picked apart whatever the Huskies did on defense.
The biggest cause for concern after the first quarter was that both bigs, both all northern type players in Jackson Ames and John Wilcox both had two fouls. Aidan Richardson has played a big role for the Bears this year in his time off of the bench, but aside from that, the experience is little to none for the rest of the bigs, and that showed, as Malone clawed back to pull it within six: 17-11.
In this run, and in the rest of the second quarter, the Huskies seemed a little restless, taking bad shots, not drawing fouls as well as they did, and rushing possessions and decisions in the second half of the shot clock. When he was in, Ames was such a force in the paint that he forced Huskies guards to take some difficult floaters in the lane that were not as efficient as some of the shots they had taken earlier this season.
In the previous game, Malone had numerous open layups to help stay with Potsdam at home up until the third quarter off of designed plays, but a clinic of coaching from Troy Lassial prevented really any baskets of that nature. Every point seemed like it needed to be earned, even the ones capitalizing off of Bears turnovers, which are normally the easiest kind of basket.
The third quarter paralleled the first quarter in that the Bears came out strong and dominated all the way through. The game was all but over when Charlie Todd got a steal and threw it ahead for Zadok Roiger for the first in game dunk of his already storied high school career to put the home team up 43-19 at the tail end of the third.
The fourth quarter saw coach Lassial experiment with different lineups, as one does when up by 25, and the second unit proved that they can play at a high level against a talented Malone squad. Owen Matthews, Parker Hurlbut, and Ryan Faunce provided some of the highlights of the game towards the end. Matthews just about got a dunk, not as clean as Roiger’s but arguably more impressive, as Matthews stands at just six feet tall, Hurlbut got an and-one off of an offensive rebound, and Faunce splashed a three, the first of his varsity career.
“I thought we played great team defense and took advantage of some turnovers early. Our second group played really well off the bench,” Lassial said after the game. “Overall it was a great team win against a well coached Malone team”
Canton 43, Saranac Lake 40
After a big win at home on Thursday, the Bears had very little time to rest before a game against a very good Saranac Lake team.
After the first quarter, the score was 10-8 in favor of the Red Storm. The Bears had open opportunities but they played less sound basketball, not making some bunnies, making the wrong pass, and turning the ball over. Saranac Lake was also making some tough shots, but it was clearly going to be a physical game with not many fouls involved.
In the first part of the second quarter, the Red Storm scored a quick 8 points that put the Bears down 10. The home team consistently got open looks and capitalized, and sunk back comfortably in a 2-3 zone that had been really disruptive thus far.
The Bears started to battle back using more dribble penetration. That’s how you beat a zone, and Jackson Ames was a rock in the middle. he ended up putting up 17, and his skill as a big was put on display. Zadok Roiger wasn’t an offensive factor at all in terms of scoring, putting up just 5 while averaging 18 on the year because of the great game planning by Saranac Lake, Knowing he was the biggest threat on this team, but having Ames step up, and Charlie Todd who scored 9 very efficient points is a really good sign for this team come playoffs showing they can produce even without the production from Roiger, and he did things that don’t show up on the stat sheet; making the right pass, being in the right place on defense, and communicating well.
After the second, it was 22-18 in a messy, gritty, low scoring game. The third quarter started as more of the same, but the Bears started shooting more efficient shots and converting, especially when Daniel Richardson went back to back possessions with a layup, and he was battling against some bigger guys in the paint, standing at 5’6. 34-30 was the score after three.
During the fourth, the Bears went up 4 with a little while left, and never looked back. Decent free throw shooting helped at the end seal a tough road win. The biggest emphasis was that the Bears shot 27% from the field, and 8% from three. Guys stepped up and this was a tough win, but the Bears now look forward to the Route 11 Rivalry against Potsdam in a clash between the 12th and 11th ranked teams in the state for class B to headline a 3 game week coming up in a 5 game in 9 day stretch.