Sports

The Canton Eagle basketball team hit the hardwood twice over the past week, picking up another win over rival Wills Point Feb. 2 to sweep the season series before dropping a tough decision to district frontrunner Brownsboro Feb. 5.

Against Wills Point at home, Canton made it a perfect three for three during the 2015-’16 season against the Tigers with a 51-41 win.

Canton got the better of Wills Point in the first quarter, building up a 13-6 lead after eight minutes of play. Scrappy defensive effort by the Tigers began to turn the tide in the second quarter, with Wills Point smothering Canton defensively to get itself back in the game. At the half, the visiting Tigers held an 18-15 advantage.

Canton reasserted control coming out of the break, blunting Tiger momentum with a 19-6 run of their own to fight their way in front by 10 points, 34-24.

Both offenses found the range in a back and forth fourth quarter, trading baskets to a 17-17 draw.

Canton’s run through a perfect District 14-4A season hit a speed bump last week, with the Eaglettes winning a game against in county rival Wills Point before losing a contest against Brownsboro that now causes a two-way tie for first.

Canton picked up its sixth district win Feb. 2 with a 56-29 win over the visiting Wills Point Lady Tigers Feb. 2.

The two teams met in the first round of district play back on Jan. 15, with Canton finding a groove early in a 71-20 runaway win over Wills Point.

Canton scored 18 points in each of the first two quarters of play during Tuesday night’s meeting, taking a 36-12 lead entering the half.

Wills Point kept things closer in the third quarter, falling short by a 13-8 count coming out of the break to trail 49-20 entering the fourth quarter. The Lady Tigers outscored Canton 9-7 in the fourth quarter, cutting the final margin down to 56-29. 

County teams compete at Rains Invitational

Lifters representing three Van Zandt County schools, Canton, Grand Saline and Van, all hit the road last week to compete at the Rains Invitational Jan. 30. In the boys division, Grand Saline finished fourth, Van fifth and Canton 12^th out of 14 teams, while in the girls division, Canton finished eighth, Grand Saline finished ninth and Van finished 11^th out of 13 teams.

Individual boys results included:

-123 lb. weight class: Rigo Herrera, Van, third place, 570 lbs. lifted

-132 lb. weight class: Kaden McKinney, Van, fifth place, 615 lbs. lifted; Allan Hira, Van, sixth place, 600 lbs. lifted

-148 lb. weight class: Michael Broyles, Canton, sixth place, 875 lbs. lifted

The Canton Eagles wrapped an impressive first round of District 14-4A play Jan. 26, improving to 3-1 overall with a 62-39 home win over Emory Rains.

Canton hit the ground running following the opening tip, jumping in front 22-6 after one quarter of play.

Led by Chance Hyles and Jackson Malone, the Eagles built even more positive momentum in the second quarter, adding to their advantage with a 17-10 run to take a 39-16 lead at the half.

Canton continued to keep its foot on the gas pedal coming out of the break, outscoring Rains 12-4 for a 51-20 advantage with eight minutes to play.

The Eagles cruised down the stretch, keeping Rains at arms length to close out the 62-39 win.

Leading scorers for Canton included Chance Hyles and Jackson Malone with 13 points each, and McGwire Martin with 9. The Canton JV also picked up a win over Emory Rains, picking up a 53-30 win over the Wildcats.

The Canton Eaglettes continued down the road to a perfect District 14-4A schedule, improving to 21-6 overall and 5-0 in district play with a 71-39 win over the visiting Emory Rains Lady Cats Jan. 26.

The Eaglette offense controlled the opening frame against an overmatched Rains team, generating basket after basket to help Canton build a 28-12 lead.

The Lady Cats managed to corral the Eaglettes somewhat better in the second quarter, holding Canton to just 16 points but still trailing 44-23 entering the half.

Rains put together its best quarter of the night coming out of the break, shaving six points off the Eaglette advantage to pull to within 51-36 with just eight minutes to play.

Canton buckled down in the fourth quarter, blocking any change of a Rains comeback by closing play with a 20-3 run for the 71-39 win.

The Canton Eagles capitalized on virtually every opportunity in the first quarter of their game against Van Jan. 22, scoring early and often to build up a double-digit advantage and then riding that margin to the final buzzer in a 47-40 win over the Vandals.

Led by the inside play of Jackson Malone, Canton built a 20-10 lead after just one quarter of play.

That margin continued nearly unabated throughout much of the second quarter, with Canton narrowly outscoring the Vandals 7-6 to take a 27-16 lead into the half.

The Vandals continued to hang tough after the break, shaving off two points throughout a highly competitive third quarter to trail 34-25.

Both offenses found more room to work through a free flowing fourth quarter, with Canton doing just enough to keep the Vandals at arm’s length and to close out the 47-40 win.

The Canton Eaglettes kept the good times of their 2015-’16 season rolling, registering 30 total steals in a 61-24 road win over rival Van Jan. 22.

Play for both Canton and Van was a struggle in the early going, with the Eaglettes building up a 10-4 lead after eight minutes of play.

Canton continued to grind and scrap away in the second quarter, eventually finding more of an offensive rhythm to extend the advantage to 25-11 entering the break.

The Eaglettes put together a monster offensive surge in the third quarter, keeping the Lady Vandal offense in check while lighting up the scoreboard for 25 points.

Entering the fourth quarter, Canton held a 50-17 lead over Van. The Eaglettes wrapped up the game by outscoring Van 11-7 in the final frame, closing out the 61-24 win to improve to a perfect 4-0 overall in District 14-4A play. 

The Canton Eaglettes continued to prove themselves as the class of the District 14-4A field last week, improving to 18-6 overall on the season with a 71-20 road win over rival Wills Point Jan. 15.

The Lady Tigers proved to be no match to Canton’s pressure defense and up tempo offense, falling behind 28-7 after just one quarter of play. Eaglette post Lilly Nelson singlehandedly outscored Wills Point in the frame, getting Canton going with 9 points through the first eight minutes.

Canton continued to roll in the second quarter, holding Wills Point to just two points to watch the margin grow to 45-9 going into the half. 

Five points each by Destiny Johnson and Kenley Nixon did more than enough to counter Wills Point’s three point effort in the third quarter, extending the lead even further to 65-12.

The Canton Eagles cleared their first hurdle in District 14-4A play on Friday night, outscoring Wills Point in three out of four quarters en route to a 49-31 win over the Tigers.

Defense was the name of the game in the first quarter for the Eagles as Canton held Wills Point to just one made field goal and three made free throws to build up an 11-5 lead.

Senior guard Chance Hyles helped spark the Canton Eagles to even bigger things in the second, knocking down four 3-pointers including a buzzer beater at the end of the quarter to carry his team to a 30-13 lead.

Wills Point put together its best quarter of the night coming out of the break, edging Canton by a 10-9 margin to pull to within 39-23 with eight minutes left to play.

The Canton Eaglette basketball team started District 14-4A play on the right foot last week, building up a double-digit lead over Emory Rains before cruising to a 56-44 win Jan. 8.

Canton controlled play in each of the first two quarters against the Lady Cats. Led by their strong defensive presence, the Eaglettes built up a lead of 15-10 at the end of the first quarter.

That momentum carried into the second quarter, with the Eaglettes putting things together on the offensive end to build a 34-22 lead into the half.

Emory Rains held tough against Canton coming out of the break, keeping things close in a 13-11 third quarter that still favored the Eaglettes.

The Lady Cats managed to chip away two points from the Canton lead in the third quarter, but couldn’t get any closer in falling to 0-1 overall in District 14-4A play.