By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com

CANTON – A big second quarter helped propel the Elyria Christian boys to a final 18-point, 53-35, victory on Tuesday on the road at county rival Canton/Galva.

Both teams played to an 8-8 standoff at the end of the first quarter before Elyria threw 23 points on the scoreboard in the second quarter to take a commanding 15-point, 31-16, lead into the halftime break.

Elyria came out in the second half and played sixteen minutes of consistent basketball, scoring 12 points in the third quarter and 10 in the final quarte to earn the final 18-point win over Canton/Galva.

“Tonight, was a very well-rounded, team effort win for us,” noted Elyria head coach Zach Goodrich. “Canton/Galva can always be counted on to be physical and tenacious. I thought we moved the ball well and got great looks at the basket. I did not like how we started off as we turned the ball over in the first couple of possessions. Then we saw some shots go in and started valuing the ball better. We have some kids this year who can really get hot from behind the arc quickly. It’s always fun to see Ty (Romero) shoot the ball well and his spark off the bench really gives our team energy as he hit five three-pointers. I was pleased with Keyan Wiggers who finished well around the rim and was big on the glass for us. Freshman Andrew Huxman also had some big moments in the first half that helped propel us to our lead.”

Elyria had a solid night shooting the ball as they connected on 49% of their shots from the field and made seven three-pointers while Canton/Galva had really rough game, hitting just 25% from the field that included only hitting a pair of twenty-six three-point attempts.

Individually, Ty Romero led Elyria with 17 points that included five made three-pointers while Keyan Wiggers chipped in with 14 and Andrew Huxman had eight. Huxman nearly had a double double as he also led the team in rebounds with nine. Ben Unruh directed the offense and dished out five assists while both Johnny Unruh and Caleb Laney were active on defense with four steals each.

Elyria coach Goodrich acknowledged the one flaw with his team when he added, “We will look to continue to cut down on our turnovers and strive for the best look we can get on offense.”

The Canton/Galva defense did force Elyria into making 19 turnovers.

Despite shooting so poorly overall as a team, Tyson Struber was still able to lead Canton/Galva’s offense with 17 points.

Canton/Galva head coach Larry O’Connor noted in his post-game reflections, “We had a poor shooting night, our kids played hard but just could not get shots to fall. But this one is on me. I tried a defense our kids were not used to playing in the second quarter and that hurt us tonight. We played them even for most of three quarters, but that second quarter got us. And that is all on me. We will keep working hard everyday and get better to make our move come sub-state time.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR ELYRIA CHRISTIAN and CANTON/GALVA?

With the victory, the Elyria Eagles are now 6-1 for the season and will be back in action on Friday hosting Centre for homecoming.

The Canton/Galva Eagles drop to 5-3 with the loss as they ready for a trip to Goessel on Friday.

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN EAGLES at CANTON/GALVA EAGLES

SCORING:                    1          2          3          4          FINAL

ELYRIA                         8          23        12        10        53       

CANTON/GALVA         8          8          11        8          35       

TEAM STATS:             

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN = FG 21/43 (49%); 3-PTR 7/20 (35%); FT 4/9 (44%); AST 15; RBS 35; TO 19; STLS 14; BLKS 0; PF 13.

CANTON/GALVA = FG 15/60 (25%); 3-PTR 2/26 (8%); FT 3/7 (43%); AST 9; RBS 35; TO 21; STLS 11; BLKS 1; PF 11.

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN EAGLE INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (53 Total Points): Ty Romero – 17; Keyan Wiggers – 14; Andrew Huxman – 8; Johnny Unruh – 7; Ben Unruh – 4; Caleb Laney – 3.

3-Pointers Made (7): Ty Romero – 5; Johnny Unruh – 2.

Rebound Leaders: Andrew Huxman – 9; Keyan Wiggers – 6; Ben Unruh, Josh Allen – 4.

Assists Leader: Ben Unruh – 5; Johnny Unruh, Caleb Laney – 3; Ty Romero – 2.

Leader in Steals: Johnny Unruh, Caleb Laney – 4; Ty Romero, Andrew Huxman – 3.

CANTON/GALVA EAGLES INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (35 Total Points): Tyson Struber – 17; TJ Koehn – 6; Lane McMannis – 5; Christian Darrah – 5; Xavier Westbrook – 2.

Three-Pointers Made (2): Lane McMannis, Christian Darrah – 1.

No other individual stats were available.