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A golden chance to snap a 20-year playoff drought was slipping through Canton’s hands, as they trailed visiting Northwest 25-24 heading to the fourth quarter. The Warriors decided in the huddle in between quarters that they did not want their season to end, and they played one of their best quarters of the season, out-scoring Northwest 13-4 en route to a 37-28 win in the PIAA Girls’ Class AA first round. They advance to play top-seeded and the top ranked team in the state according to media outlets, Southern Columbia in Catawissa this evening.

Canton advances to play top-seeded and the top-ranked team in class AA by multiple publications, Southern Columbia, this evening at 7PM in Catawissa.
It was a tough loss for a shorthanded Northwest team missing two key starters and their head coach.

“We only had six players. We have a couple of injuries and one is sick so we didn’t have the subs to put in to carry us through the game,” Northwest assistant coach Ted Sadowski said. Sadowski filled in for head coach Scott Miner, who was out due to illness.

Canton, who lost star player Aislyn Williams to injury late in the season, relied on her fellow junior Molly Ward to do a lot of the heavy lifting, as she had eight points and eleven rebounds for the Warriors and played her best basketball in the second half.

“(In between the third and fourth quarters) we were just talking about if you’re ready for our season to be over or not, and the fact that we have the chance to pretty much make school history and win our first playoff game in roughly 20 years,” junior forward Molly Ward said.

Ward is known for her rebounding prowess, but her two big fourth quarter baskets helped Canton take the lead in the fourth quarter and make a shorthanded Northwest team chase the game.

“I’ve been struggling to get my shots to fall all year. Finally in probably the biggest game of our year they went in so it was a great feeling,” Ward said.

The last time Canton won a playoff game was way back in 2002 when they upset top-seeded Williamson and made the state tournament.. It’s a playoff win Canton coach Casey Aylesworth has been building towards in his tenure as head coach.

“It’s definitely a special moment because we’ve been building up to it. We had a solid team all year and our point guard actually went down and we’ve kind of found ways to win. It’s not pretty at times but,we’ve had some different players step up so it’s definitely a program win,” Aylesworth said.

Morgan Hermanofski got off to a quick start for the Rangers, attacking the basket at will and knocking down an early three en route to five first quarter points. Canton tried to keep pace with baskets by Emmie Tymeson, Jazmyn Hickock, and Ward, but they trailed 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was the best offensive quarter of the game for Northwest, and could have been even better had they not struggled from the foul line, going 2-6 in the frame. Hermanofski continued to get into the lane for the Rangers, and had four points in the frame, while Angelina DiPino had four of her five points in the second quarter. Northwest got their lead to 17-12 on a basket by Dipinio with twenty seconds remaining in the frame, but a putback with under ten seconds remaining in the half helped Canton cut the deficit down to three at the break.

Canton would rally to take the lead mid-third quarter as freshman Kendall Kitchen knocked down two three-balls in the first three minutes and Canton led 24-21 at the five-minute mark. Those three-pointers by Kitchen were at critical times in the game when the Warrior offense was struggling to get anything going.

“I think it really boosted my confidence because especially in the beginning, I tend to get in my own head when I’m now making shots. I started telling myself that we need to start moving the ball and once we start moving the ball, we started getting open shots, and I think it pushed our team a lot more,” Kitchen said.

But, Northwest stepped up the defensive intensity and did not let the Warriors score again for the rest of the quarter. Two baskets by Bowman gave Northwest the lead, 25-24, heading to the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter would be all Warriors. They scored the first five of the frame to go up 29-25 before a Bowman basket stopped the run. But, two straight Ward baskets with under three minutes to play put Canton up 33-28 with 2:11 to go. Kaelyn Crawford was fouled on a three with two minutes to play and added a foul shot, but Northwest could not get anything to fall late, and Canton pulled away for a 37-28 win.

Canton knows the immense challenge that is in front of them heading to Southern Columbia, but it’s a challenge they’re looking forward to.

We have one senior and we’ve never really gotten to watch a team play basketball like we’re expecting Southern (Columbia) to, so it’s just gonna be a learning experience for us,” Ward said.