2023 Game 9 Recap: Canton 47, Liberty 39

Day 2 of the Macomb-Western Holiday Tournament kicked off with a comeback win by the Canton Little Giants, who knocked off the Liberty Eagles by a score of 47-39.  Canton led by a score of 23-19 heading into the halftime, but Liberty outscored Canton 14-9 in the 3rd quarter to take a 33-32 lead.  Just 18 seconds into the 4th quarter, Canton’s Logan Nichols hit a three-pointer to make it 35-33 in favor of the Little Giants.  Ryan Yerbic added two baskets and another Logan Nichols three later…and Canton was ahead 42-33 after a 10-0 run.  The Little Giants would not relinquish the lead.

Canton was led in scoring by Logan Nichols’ 16 points and Ryan Yerbic added 12.  Yerbic also led his team with seven rebounds.  Lakon Otto had four steals and three asists to lead his team.

Liberty had a duo of double digit scorers also in Tanner Gimm (15 points) and Levi Hoener (12 points).  Hoener had a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds.  Gavin Fessler had a team-high three assists.  The Eagles won the war in the paint, outscoring Canton 34-22 down low.

Canton (5-8) advances to the consolation semifinals and awaits the winner of the Eureka/Lewistown.  They will play in Game 17, located in Brophy Hall on Saturday morning at 9:00am.  Liberty (4-11) has been eliminated from this year’s tournament.

2023 Game 10 Recap: Eureka 63, Lewistown 25

After back-to-back MVP finishes in 2021 and 2022, Tyler Heffren must have felt he had something to prove after his performance yesterday seemed…less than we’d come to expect from him.  In Game 10 vs the Lewistown Indians, Heffren led the Eureka Hornets to a comfortable win, 63 to 25.  He finished with 30 points and 17 rebounds on 11-for-20 from the floor and 8-for-8 from the free throw line.  Both teams started cold, however.  After the first quarter, the score was just 9-7 in favor of Eureka and featured three lead changes.  Then the Hornets came alive in the second frame, where they scored 22 points and led 31-15 headed into halftime.  Points in the paint was the big story here.  Eureka not only won that battle by a count of 42-10, but it also contributed to their higher field goal percentage.

As mentioned, Eureka was led by Tyler Heffren in both points (30) and rebounds (17).  Zeke Mason was second on the team in scoring and rebounds with six and six, respectively.  Cooper Peterson swatted away a game-high four steals.  The Hornets buzzed away with the fast break points, 16-0.  They also forced 15 turnovers and turned those into 15 points.

Lewistown’s leading scorer and rebounder was Aidan Reed, who finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.  Finding themselves down big at the half, the Indians settled for a lot of high-risk shots in the second half and their stats suffered as a result.  They shot 14.3% field goals in the second half.  Lewistown’s bench was a bright spot, as they contributed 10 of their 25 points.

Eureka (5-7) advances deeper into the consolation bracket, where they will meet with Canton in Game 17.  That game will be held at Brophy Hall (across the street from Western Hall) on Saturday morning at 9:00am.  Lewistown (2-12) has been eliminated.