Section 10 basketball finals: Canton, Heuvelton Boys repeat Section 10 titles

“It really feels great to win the baskeball title after winning it on soccer. WE played very well as a team,” said Canton guard Ryan Jones who was part of an aggressive ball-hawking Canton perimeter defense while Odetoyinbo was a formidable deterent in the lane.

“Etomi has been great on defense all season and he is getting better on offense. We ran a play in practice where slammed home a lob pass. We ran it in the game but he just layed it in.”

Heuvelton secured a second straight Class D title with a 51-28 victory over Harrisville which in no way resembled the Bulldogs’ two wins in the NAC West Division by a total of seven points. The Bulldogs swarming team defense, which held the Pirates to one field goal in the third quarter, was complemented Nate Mashaw who scored the first 10 points of the game and sparked a 12-0 lead.

In his 10-point opening run Mashaws converted on two floaters after offensive rounds, snatched a steal, drained a 3-pointer and made three free throws after being founded on a 3-point attempt,

Both teams enter the Overall Section 10 playoffs on Tuesday and start state tournament play in two weeks.

Heuvelton will meet Class B Champion Potsdam which upset top-seeded Gouverneur in overtime at 6 p.m. and Canton will play Class A Champion Massena after the 2023 NAC Awards Presentation.

“When we got off to a great start we just kept talking that it was zero to zero. Harrisville is a great team and we knew they cold make runs. We just needed to sure that ours were the longest runs,” said guard Chris Ashlaw who teams with fellow seniors in Mashaw and Jake Venette in a trio who interchange at the guards and small forwards positions seamlessly.

“Nate (Mashaw) got us off to a great start on offense. I’ve seen him do that many times.”

CLASS D GAME

Harrisville was able to regroup in the first quarter and cut the lead to 19-11 when Liam Winters buried a 3-pointer in the closing seconds. The Bulldogs (20-3) countered immediately in the second quarter when Ashlaw buried a three-pointer and Venette used a perfectly timed leap for a floating butback at the rim.

The Pirates (17-3) cut the lead to 11 points in the final minute of the second quarter despite operating without a key player in Tanner Sullivan, and forced two Bulldogs misses. But Mashaw and Lucas Thornhill came up with offensive rebounds and the half ended with Ashlaw scoring on a sweeping drive down the lane.

The Bulldogs eased away to a 41-19 lead in the third quarter where they did not allow a field goal until 26 seconds remaining.

“We came up with a trapping zone defense to slow down Tanner Sullivan and it worked well. The guys were totally focused in practice and they are so smart that they can adapt on the fly,” said Heuvelton Coach Josh McAllister.

“We communicated very well tonight against a very good team. Nate Mashaw showed tonight why he won so many awards. He has worked hard to win every one.”

Mashaw finished with three 3-pointers in an 18-point outing with 3 assists and 3 steals. Ashlaw buried two 3’s scoring 14 points and Lucas Thornhill delivered seven of his 12 points in the third quarter. Jake Venette (5 points) supplied 8 rebounds and four assists to the effort and Connor Phillips (2 points) also grabbed eight rebounds.

“I had never felt more confident going into a game in my life. The coaches gave us a great game plan and we carried it out,” said Mashaw.

“We were very focused and we are going to be even more focused moving on.”

Tanner Sullivan led Harrisville with 11 points and Liam Winters hit two 3s scoring six. Nolan Sullivan (4), Aidan Chartrand (2) and Bendan Loos (5) rounded out the scoring.

“They came out hot and totally outplayed us tonight. Very good team. We will be back with everyone returning next year,” said Harrisville Coach Brian Coloney.

CLASS C GAME

With Eyilayomi Odetoyinbo blocking six shots and grabbing eight rebounds as a centerpiece in the defense, Canton (18-5) sniped home five 3-pointers in a signature balanced offense which was consistently fueled by transition scoring off its defense.

Ryan Jones tallied 10 points with 5 assists and 3 assists and 3 steals and Luke Wentworth also struck for 10 points with 3 steals. Ethan Francey buried three 3s in a nine-point effort matched by a smooth nine by Vincent Nelson-Fuse operatng around the rim and dropping in one 3

Odetoyinbo complemented his defense with an eight-point effort which included six points in a 23-4 Bears’ run in the third quarter. Elias Snyder added six points.

“We played our normal man-to-man defense with Etomi roaming inside and the other guys pressing in the ball and funneling the ball inside. We are pretty good on defense,” said Canton Coach Troy Lassial.

“We have a lot of young guys who love the game and they are going to work hard. We will be a lot better by graduation and Etomi will have an offensive game next year.”

Despite falling behind 45-15 Tupper Lake (17-5) never stopped their aggressive play on both ends of the court. Guard Thomas Peterson went 6-8 at the foul line and scored a game-high 17 points and Tyler LaPlante talled seven.

The Canton JV’s were honored before the game as Central Division Champions. CLASS B GAME

POTSDAM - If anyone on the Potsdam Central boys basketball team was due from the foul line in the Section 10 Class B championship game against defending champion Gouverneur Central, it was senior forward Tanner Race.

body text: After battling his way inside to a dozen trips to the charity stripe where he only mananged to convert on two attempts, Race calmly connected on the two foul shots he took in overtime with 9.5 seconds remaining that proved to be the difference in a 62-58 win over the Sandstoners.

“Tanner never gave up the whole game. He just kept working and getting to the foul line. Even though he struggled to make the shots, he kept playing hard and when he had his moment in the brightest light of the night, he stepped up for us when we needed him most,” said first-year head coach Justin Todd after his squad knocked off the top-seeded Wildcats at SUNY Potsdam’s Jerry Welsh Gymnasium for their first sectional title since claiming the Class C crown in 2015.

“I knew when I went up to the line that the last two were the one I needed to make to win,” smiled Race after capping an eight-point night with the two biggest shots of his high school career. “This is just the greatest thing ever.”

Following the two made free throws by Race, eighth-grader Ian VanWagner sealed the victory by converting on two attempts from the foul line with three seconds remaining after Gouverneur sophomore Raine Rumble had countered the two Race free throws with a strong drive to the basket that cut the deficit to 60-58 with 5.5 seconds left and drew a foul.

VanWagner, who provided the highlight field goal of the night when he successfully launched a three-point shot from halfcourt to end the first quarter that put the Sandstoners ahead 26-16, led all scorers with 25 points and is now just 11 points shy of the 1,000-point mark for his budding varsity career that still has another four years of eligibility.

uniors Theo Hughes and Dylan LaMora also made key offensive contributions with nine and eight points respectively. The freshman duo of forward Brodie Delaney and late-season backcourt call-up Ilahn Maroun made their presence felt as well with seven and five points, respectively.

For the Wildcats, who ended their season at 15-5, Rumble tossed through 20 oints followed by seniors Ethan Platt (17 points), Ethan Fitzgerald (13 points) and Kobe Steorts (4 points) and junior Jared Donaldson (4 points).