By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com
GOESSEL – In a quick turnaround from Friday nights season opener, the Canton/Galva basketball teams jumped back on the hardwood on Monday for their first round games in the annual Bluebird Classic hosted by Goessel.
Playing Central Christian, Eagle boys, powered by their depth, ran away with a dominating 62-31 victory while the short handed Lady Eagles suffered a 58-17 loss.
Next up for the Canton/Galva boys and girls will be on Friday when they play Burrton in their second game of the Goessel Bluebird Classic.
CANTON/GALVA EAGE BOYS:
Starting out a bit slow, the Eagle boys only lead by six, 14-8, at the end of the first quarter before pouring 21 points into the stat book in the second quarter and pull away for a commanding 19-point, 35-16, advantage heading into the halftime break.
Coming out of the break, Canton/Galva doubled up Central Christian 22-11 in the third quarter to take a 57-27 lead into the final quarter before settling in for the final 31-point, 62-31 win.
Tyson Struber led the Eagles on offense with 14 points, 12 of which came from hitting on four three-pointers. While Lane McMannis and Cason Mastre flirted with double digit scoring by putting nine and eight points in their stat sheet, the Eagles had a total of 10 players put at least a single point on the board in the game.
The Eagles were dropping in three pointers like layups as they made 14 of them during the game which countered the stat that said they only made three-of-twelve free throws.
“We started a little slow before picking up the tempo in the second quarter,” noted Eagle head coach Larry O’Connor after the game. “Our depth wore them down while we need to get better from the free throw line.
CANTON/GALVA EAGLES vs. Cental Christian at the Bluebird Classic
SCORING: 1 2 3 4 FINAL
EAGLES 14 21 22 5 62
C. Christian 8 8 11 4 31
TEAM STATS: EAGLES Central Chrstian
Shooting Not Available
3-Pointers Not Available
Free Throws 3/12 (25%) 8/20 (40%)
Personal Fouls 20 7
CANTON/GALVA EAGLES INDIVIDUAL SCORING LEADERS:
Scoring (62 Total Points): Tyson Struber – 14; Lane McMannis – 9; Cason Mastre – 8; Christian Darrah – 6; Xavier Westbrook – 6; TJ Koehn – 5; Brayden Doughman – 4; Wyatt Collins – 4; Jaden Ediger – 3; Garrett Maltbie – 3.
Three-Pointers Made (13): Tyson Struber – 4; Cason Mastre, Christian Darrah – 2; Lane McMannis, Xavier Westbrook, Jaden Ediger, Garrett Maltbie, Brayden Doughman – 1.
CANTON/GALVA LADY EAGLES:
Playing short handed is not doing the Lady Eagles any favors, especially when you have just eight players and two get into foul trouble which means you are basically playing with just six.
Central Christian ran out and put 26 points on the board in the first quarter while the Canton/Galva girls were only able to muster a single basket, putting the Lady Eagles 24 points in the hole from the opening tip.
While the Lady Eagles did outscore Central Christian by a couple of points in the second quarter, their offense went cold in the second half and ended up losing by 41 points, 58-17.
Sage Toews led the Lady Eagles in scoring with eight points, including the team’s only three-pointer.
CANTON/GALVA LADY EAGLES vs. Central Christian at the Bluebird Classic
SCORING: 1 2 3 4 FINAL
LADY EAGLES 2 10 3 2 17
C. Christian 26 8 18 6 58
TEAM STATS: LADY EAGLES Central Christian
Shooting Not Available
3-Pointers Not Available
Free Throws 2/3 (66%) 10.18 (55%)
Rebounds (Off/Def) Not Available
Assists Not Available
Turnovers Not Available
Steals Not Available
Blocked Shots Not Available
Personal Fouls 11 6
CANTON/GALVA LADY EAGLES INDIVIDUAL SCORING LEADERS:
Scoring (17 Total Points): Sage Toews – 8; Mimi Craig – 4; Brecken Pearson – 2; Red Craig – 2; Lili Espinoza – 1.
Three-Pointers Made (1): Sage Toews – 1.