Canton girls win in state semifinals with last-second shot
Canton trailed by as many as 15 points in Tuesday’s MHSAA 5A semifinal matchup against defending state champion Laurel. After storming back in the second half, the Lady Tigers had the ball on the final possession with a chance to win the game.
An initial shot attempt by Canton went careening off the backboard and landed in the hands of the player the Lady Tigers wanted to get the ball to all along, 5A Ms. Basketball winner Shamira Morton.
“It wasn’t how we planned to get Shamira the ball,” Canton Head Coach Melissa Word said. “Once I saw the shot miss, I told everyone to get out of the way because Shamira was coming to get it.”
Morton found her sweet spot in the short corner off of the offensive rebound, fired up a midrange jumpshot, and found nothing but net to complete the comeback and send Canton back to the 5A state title game for the second year in a row with a 42-40 win.
“In the timeout before that play, Coach (Melissa Word) told me she trusted me to take the shot, so I had to do everything I could to take and make that shot,” Morton said. “I trusted and believed in myself, my teammates trusted and believed in me to take the shot and I took it and made it.”
Morton also led the Lady Tigers in scoring with 21 points, while also making a major impact on the boards and on the defensive end, grabbing seven rebounds, to go along with two blocks and two steals.
Canton fell behind 22-7 at one point in the second quarter, but the Lady Tigers never gave up and settled in defensively, holding Laurel to two points in the fourth quarter, to get back into the game and eventually secure the win.
“We knew they wanted to get the ball into (Karly) Hunter and our team was really able to help each other defensively in stopping her,” Word said. “After playing them last year, we knew how dominant they were inside, but I feel like we played better team ball.”
Team rebounding was also a major factor for Canton in the comeback win, as they outrebounded Laurel 34-24 and had 13 offensive rebounds to Laurel’s eight.
It was a measure of revenge for Canton in this one, as Laurel knocked out the Lady Tigers in the MHSAA 5A state championship game last year in a similar 44-40 thriller.
“We have had a lot of roster turnover from last year’s team that went to the state championship game,” Word said. “I just tell our team before every game that they are built for this and we have played some of the toughest teams in the state, so we have been tested for games like this.”
Canton will play Pontotoc in the 5A state championship and will look to win their first state title since 2013 and their second in program history.
The MHSAA 5A girls state title game will be on Friday at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson, with tip-off set for 6 PM.