"Canton Hangs On After Late Rally to Win in Overtime"

Friday, December 9, 2016

Ann Arbor Huron High School

Friday night was game number three on the season for the two teams facing each other in cross conference play as the Canton Chiefs traveled across I-94 to take on the Ann Arbor Huron River Rats.  Canton came in to this game having won both of their games so far in this young season.

The offense was even in the opening minutes for both teams.  Senior forward Erin Hult got Canton the early lead with a long 2-pointer.  Huron would answer with a spinning layup from junior Shamim Wambere, who was a big part of this team last season.  The Chiefs would begin to pull away near the end of the quarter putting together an 11-0 run heading into the 2nd thanks in part to a pair of triples from Hult.

20 seconds into the 2nd quarter the River Rats would stop the bleeding with a layup from Michaela Glenn.  This would be followed minutes later when Wambere would get a layup and the foul.  She got the and 1 as well as another layup a minute later to make it a 4 point game.  Wambere had 6 points in the first half.  Canton would give themselves some breathing room heading into the locker with layups by senior guard Brianna Finn and senior forward Sam Mattern with an uncontested layup.  At the half, Canton led 32-23.

Canton looked to build on their lead early in the 3rd, senior forward Madison Wolfbauer would get a long 2 to put the Chiefs up 36-25.  But it would be over 7 in-game minutes until they got their next point.  This opened the door for the River Rats who would put together a 9-nothing run to end the quarter capped off by a layup from senior Kara Wilson with 30 seconds left.  After 3, Ann Arbor Huron closed the gap to make it a 2 point game, 36-34.

The dry spell ended for Canton early in the 4th after Hult made a pair of free throws, but Huron would still rally.  Wambere would get a pair of free throws to give Huron their first lead of the night with 4:15 to go.  This game would come down right to the wire as Hult would sink a big 3 pointer with 2:15 to go but the River Rats would not give up.  With only 8 seconds left Wilson gets a foul and makes both free throws to send this one into overtime with the score 42-42.

Canton would get it together though and for most of overtime they held Huron to only 2 points. Thanks to a couple long 2 pointers by Heitmeyer and Finn, the Chiefs would survive the rally.  Canton improves to 3-0 on the season as Ann Arbor Huron falls to 1-2.  Final score 50-47.

Leading scorers of the night: Canton: Brianna Finn 18, Erin Hult 16, Alaina Heitmeyer 8.  Ann Arbor Huron: Shamim Wambere 19, Kara Wilson 11, Emily Marsh and Sasha Thomas 5.

Game and Team Highlights

Canton:

• Coach Rob Heitmeyer praised his players for playing more patiently in the 4th quarter and in overtime after feeling like the fast pace from Huron in the 3rd quarter was a big factor when it came to their big points drought.
• Canton did a great job rebounding defensively as they would turn missed opportunities from Huron into points for them.

AA Huron:

• Shamim Wambere seems to be picking up where she left off last season as one of the teams leaders offensively, she had a game high 19 points and made great use of her size when it came to scoring in the paint and rebounding.
• The River Rats also did not let the slow start get to them, they tied the Chiefs in points in the 2nd quarter and outscored the Chiefs in the 3rd and 4th quarters to pull off the rally but unfortunately they could not keep that momentum heading into overtime.