POTDAM — Imposing 6-8 center Eyilayoni Odetoyinbo forced Heuvelton to re-route its offensive sets many times while point guard Ryan Jones kept Canton on a steady course to a second straight Section 10 Overall Boys Basketball Championship on Friday night at SUNY Potsdam.
Odetoyinbo blocked several shots and altered several others and Jones guided the Bears through the menacing traps in the Bulldogs defense and orchestrated the fastbreak. The end result was the Class C Champion Golden Bears (16-6) reeling off a key run in the second, third and fourth quarters to down the Class D Champion Bulldogs (21-4) 59-42.
“Earlier this year Ryan went down to a Williams-Colby game and watched an outstanding point guard. He came back and has been an outstanding leader,” said Canton Coach Troy Lassial of his First Team All-NAC Central selection who protected the ball off the dribble and consistently found teammates around the basket or spotting up on the perimeter and beyond.
The Bears finished the second quarter on an 11-3 spurt to take a 24-16 halftime and after the Bulldogs scored the first eight points the third quarter to move into a 24-24 tie Coach Lassial’s team used a 9-0 finish to open a 35-26 margin entering the fourth quarter. In the final quarter they gained 24-16 margin over last ditch efforts of the Bulldogs who played without All-NAC West guard Jake Venette.
“Jake hurt his knee in the final two minutes of the Potsdam game. Our juniors came in and played hard but we just didn’t play with the same level of confidence without Jake,” said Heuvelton Coach Josh McAllister after the Bears repeated a nonleague win over Heuvelton in the regular season.
“Canton plays outstanding defense and with Eyilayoni anchoring them in the back the other guys can pressure out and gamble. They played very well.”
Along with his defensive presence Odetoyobino also scored a game-high 16 points with 10 in the fourth quarter where he went 4-6 from the free throw line.
“It has been a long, tough year but (Odetoyobino) has gotten a lot better. Earlier in the year we struggled to score but now we are rebounding so well on the defensive boards that we can get out and run and score so much better,” said Coach Lassial.
Odetoyinbo provided the impetus for what proved to be a double turning point of the game in the third quarter after Chris Ashlaw buried two 3’s as Heuvelton gained a 24-24 tie.
Odetoyino blocked two shots and converted at the rim off a lob pass from Luke Wentworth, Jones netted a 3-pointer and Ethan Francey came up with two steals in the backcourt as the Bears opened the 35-26 lead.
Trystan Biller and Lucas Thornhill buried 3s early in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 37-32, and Ashlaw connect twice to reduce the margin to 45-39 before Odetoyinbo scored inside to start a 14-3 finish.
The trio of Nelson-Fuse, Jones and Wentworth tallied 14, 11 and 10 points, Elias Snyder tallied four and Charlie Todd and Jayce Collins each added two for Canton.
Chris Ashlaw led Heuvelton with 13 second half points and netted eight in the third quarter. Nate Mashaw scored 10 points with eight and two 3s in the first quarter. Lucas Thornhill tallied six points on two 3s, Connor Phillips finished with five and Cam Johnson and Trystan Biller added four and three.
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