Eagles fight back in district chase

Submitted by Canton1 on
DAVID KAPITAN sports@vanzandtnews.com

The Canton Eagles entered play last week with their back against the wall, desperately needing wins to put themselves back in the hunt for a playoff berth with just three games remaining in District 13-4A play. Canton would deliver arguably its two best showings of district play against Wills Point and Emory Rains, avenging an earlier loss against the Tigers before completing the season sweep of the Wildcats.

Canton opened its district-closing three-game homestand against rival Wills Point, controlling play from the opening tip for a 56-38 win.

The Eagles were the aggressors throughout the early stages of the contest, drawing multiple fouls on Tiger defenders to build a 18-9 lead after one quarter. Canton continued to build on their lead in the second quarter by outscoring the Tigers 17-11 for a 35-20 halftime lead.

Wills Point struggled to recover from the halftime defecit, never seriously threatening the Eagle advantage in the 56-38 loss.

Leading scorers for Wills Point included Jayton Oldacre and Jacob Moore with eight points each, Peyton Scarborough with six, Demontre Hill with five, Zane Coffman and Tyler James with four each, and Josh Davis with three.

Canton was led offensively with 14 points from McGwire Martin, 12 from Dalton Williams, eight from Carter Day, seven each from Cooper Smith and Kyle Rose-Peterson, and four each from Jackson Heard and Cameron Sullivan.

The Eagles returned to action Feb. 9, playing host to the Emory Rains Wildcats in another crucial district contest. Canton would go on to complete the season sweep of the Wildcats by getting double-digit scoring efforts from three different players in a 72-47 win.

Leading scorers for Canton included McGwire Martin with 22, Dalton Williams with 15, Kyle Rose-Peterson with 11, Cameron Sullivan with nine, Kyler Keller and Jackson Heard with six each and Cooper Smith with three.

Canton, 3-6 overall in District 13-4A play, was scheduled to host the Mabank Panthers for Senior Night Feb. 13. Elsewhere in district action, Wills Point (1-8) was scheduled to host Van (7-2) and Rains (3-6) was scheduled to host district champion Brownsboro (9-0). The top four finishers in district play will represent District 13-4A in this year's basketball playoffs.