‘A’ FOR EFFORT: Canton’s defense shines in narrow loss to Raiders
Canton’s LJ Jelks drives against North Farmington’s Connor Brown.
Points were precious and few throughout Tuesday night’s season-opening boys basketball clash between host Canton and North Farmington.
The Cobras unleashed a stifling defensive effort that resulted in a 19-15 halftime advantage before ultimately falling to the Raiders, 41-35.
After North Farmington sophomore guard TJ Waldron drained one of two free throws with 58.3 seconds remaining to stretch the visitors’ lead to 39-35, Canton misfired on a pair of decent looks from beyond the arc.
Waldron sealed the deal with two freebies in the waning seconds.
Brown bomber
Connor Brown led the Raiders with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Dion Morgan added 10 points for North Farmington, which control in the third quarter when it outscored the Cobras 17-10,
Liam Wilson paced Canton with 13 points — eight in the second half.
Drew Putnam started the game on fire, finding nothing but net on his pair of first-quarter three-point attempts; however, the Raiders adjusted their defense to put the clamps on the Cobras’ perimeter sharp-shooter the rest of the way.
Cobras ssss-izzle from the free throw line
Jaylen Tramble scored six points for Canton and Noah Tarquinto added five.
A bright spot for Canton was its efficiency from the free-throw line where it knocked down 11 of 13 attempts.
The Raiders were also in mid-season form at the charity stripe, hitting 14 of 17 freebies.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
