Canton falls in thriller to Olive Branch

Canton falls in thriller to Olive Branch

Posted

Canton lost a 64-61 heartbreaker to Olive Branch in a matchup between the defending 5A and 6A state champions at the “Rumble in the South” at Mississippi College on Monday afternoon. 

After taking a 30-24 lead into halftime, Canton was unable to overcome a 26-point third quarter outburst from Olive Branch. Even with the huge third quarter, Canton answered in the fourth quarter and had multiple shots to tie the game and send it to overtime, but were unable to capitalize in the end.

“It’s definitely important to get to play a championship level team like this late in the season,” Canton Head Coach Brian Townsend said. “It gives us a lot of experience in high-level games that will only help us going into the rest of district and postseason play.”

Olive Branch also had a very balanced scoring attack, with three players with 15 points or more, which gave Canton a lot of trouble defensively.

Even with the loss, there are plenty of positive takeaways for Canton in this one. The Tigers took one of the state’s best and most battle-tested teams down to the wire and can now use this to improve going into the rest of region play and into the postseason.

“I think we have played better as a team as the season has gone along, but I would like to see us play more consistently on defense,” Townsend said. “We do a great job in spurts, but it’s about finding that consistency and always defending like we can and should.”

Another positive takeaway was the performance of Mississippi State signee Jamarion Fleming. The senior center dominated on the inside in this one, tallying 29 points, five rebounds, three blocks, and two steals. 

Fleming committed to the Bulldogs in October and has been able to fully focus on his senior season and leading Canton to back-to-back state championships with the craziness that is college recruitment over.

“I think there is a lot of weight off of his shoulders now that his recruitment is over,” Townsend said. “He’s really been able to just focus on basketball and trying to win a state championship in his senior season.

Canton sits at 14-10 on the season and picked up another region victory over Greenville on Tuesday night. The Tigers will wrap up region play with a huge matchup against Yazoo City on Friday night, before their regular season finale against Cleveland Central next week.






Powered by Creative Circle Media Solutions