BOTH WIN AT SUB-STATE!!
Thursday – Friday, February 23-24 in Canton
Giving a voice to the smaller area schools of McPherson County and the Athletes they have….Our goal is to give them all some media love!!
It is post=season and both the Eagle boys and Lady Eagles earned first-round sub-state wins.
Lady Eagles beat Goessel for fourth time this season, up next sub-state top seed Elyria Christian.
The Eagle boys knocked off Rural Vista, next opponent will be third seed Sylvan/Lucas.
SUB-STATE SEMI-FINALS AHEAD!!
C/G LADY EAGLES
HOLD OFF GOESSEL
WIN BY 7
By Staff
CANTON – On Thursday the Canton/Galva girls took another big step in a turn around season as they hosted and defeated Goessel by seven, 44-37, in their quarterfinal of the Class 1A Division I Goessel Sub-State.
Now a solid 13-8 and within one win of matching the team’s best record in 16 seasons, the Lady Eagles will have a week to prep for their sub-state semi-final matchup on Thursday, March 2 with top-seeded Elyria Christian who had a quarterfinal bye and stand at 16-4 for the season. If Canton/Galva wins they would then play for a spot in the state tournament on Saturday, March 4 against the winner between second seed Sylvan/Lucas (15-5) and third seed Rural Vista (14-6).
“It is tough to beat a team two times or even three times, but we had to do it four times,” explained Lady Eagle head coach Brad Willems. “We played Goessel four times this year. They are a scrappy well coached team, but we found a way to get the victory though we did not play our best basketball and you have to credit Goessel for that.”
The Lady Eagles held a seven-point, 9-2 lead at the end of the first quarter and extended it out to 10 at 21-11 going into the halftime break. Both teams played even in the third quarter before Goessel tried to put together a fourth quarter rally only to have Canton/Galva hold them off and gain the final seven-point victory.
Speaking of the game and team effort, coach Willems noted, “I was really pleased with our energy and effort, we just did not execute like we are capable of. But we made enough plays to come away with the win.”
As a team the Lady Eagles kept hurting themselves as they turned the ball over 19 times.
Individually, Trinity Espinoza led Canton/Galva by scoring 26 of the team’s 44 points, including connecting on three three-pointers. Lili Espinoza led the team in rebounds with seven while Brecken Pearson and Mimi Craig each grabbed four.
Willems concluded his post-game reflections by saying, “The crowd for the game was amazing and the student section was awesome. The atmosphere was what you look for in post-season play. We have to thank our crowd! Now we get a chance to play Elyria Christian for the third time. We came up short the first two times, so I am excited about the test!”
CANTON/GALVA LADY EAGLES hosting Goessel
SCORING: LADY EAGLES > 9-12-13-10 = 44; Goessel > 2-9-13-13 = 37.
CANTON/GALVA LADY EAGLE TEAM STATS: 2-FGs – 6/20; 3-PTs – 6/16; FTs – 14/24; AST – 8; REBs – 20; TO – 19; STLs – 8; BLKs – 1; FLs – n/a.
CANTON/GALVA LADY EAGLE INDIVIDUAL STAT: Scoring > Trinity Espinoza – 26; Lili Espinoza – 7; Adi Alcala – 4; Brecken Pearson – 3; Mimi Craig – 3; Makinlee Hoppes – 1. 3-Pointers Made > T. Espinoza – 3; L. Espinoza, Alcala, Pearson – 1. Assists > T. Espinoza – 3; Alcala – 2; L. Espinoza, Pearson, Hoppes – 1. Rebounds > L. Espinoza – 7; Pearson, M. Craig – 4; Alcala, Sage Toews – 1. Steals > L. Espinoza – 3; T. Espinoza, Pearson – 2; M. Craig – 1. Blocked Shots > Pearson – 1.
(The Staff covering events for the MAC AREA SPORTS NEW can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)
C/G BOYS ROLL OVER
RURAL VISTA BY 37
By Staff
CANTON – In their first game of Class 1A Division I sub-state on Friday, the Canton/Galva boys literally rolled over visiting Rural Vista by 37 points in scoring a 75-38 win.
With the win the Eagles, second seed in their sub-state, are now 15-6 for the season and will play third seed Sylvan/Lucas (14-6) on Friday, March 3 in the Goessel Sub-State semifinals. The other semifinal will be a matchup of top seeded Elyria Christian and fifth seed Goessel who beat fourth seeded Solomon 47-35 on Friday. The Eagles are just two games from a trip to the state tournament.
“We started the game ready to play,” noted Eagle head coach Larry O’Connor. “We took an early lead and never looked back. Our defensive pressure really controlled the game for us.”
Canton/Galva ran out to a nine-point, 18-9 lead by the end of the first quarter before extended the advantage out to 20 points at 42-22 by the halftime break thanks to putting another 24 points on the board. After dropping another 22 points in the scorebook in the third quarter, the Eagles had a 34-point, 64-30 lead heading into the final stanza where they finished off the final 37-point victory.
Wyatt Collins had a monster night much thanks to putting 14 points in the books in the second quarter on his way to leading the team with 21 points while also recording a big double-double with 15 rebounds. Jett Vincent was the first quarter story as he scored 11 of the teams 18 points on his way to a final 19 points. Along the way, Vincent also scored his 1,000 points of his high school career. Ten Eagles put at least a pair of points by their name in the scorebook including four players with four points each.
Coach O’Connor concluded his post-game reflections by saying, “Wyatt (Collins) had a monster game with 21 points and 15 rebounds while Jett (Vincent) hit for 19. We had a lot of kids play well and our overall scoring was spread out. We are playing very good team basketball and I like our chances heading into the sub-state semi-finals next week.”
CANTON/GALVA EAGLES hosting Rural Vista
SCORING: EAGLES > 18-24-22-11 = 75; Rural Vista > 9-13-8-8 = 38.
CANTON/GALVA EAGLES INDIVIDUAL SCORING > Wyatt Collins – 21; Jett Vincent – 19; Garrett Maltbie – 8; Jory Ratzlaff – 5; Cason Mastre – 4; Lane McMannis – 4; Walker Nightengale – 4; Jaden Ediger – 4; Jase Beltz – 2; Leyton Witte – 2; Noah Collins – 2. 3-Pointers Made > Maltbie – 2; Vincent, Ratzlaff, Ediger – 1.
(The Staff covering events for the MAC AREA SPORTS NEW can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)
A KEEPSAKE OF THE 2022 RUN TOWARD A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP BY THE CANTON/GALVA EAGLE FOOTBALL TEAM……THIS BOOK HAS ALL THE STORIES AND STATS….A FOREVER KEEPSAKE FOR YOUR HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE, FAMILY MEMBER OR FRIEND……
CANTON/GALVA EAGLE FOOTBALL – 2022: Dursens, Mr. Will: 9798367535518: Amazon.com: Books
