Preview: Canton Warriors vs. Mansfield Tigers
Two dominant players in Ben Fitch and Karson Dominick are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. Having just played yesterday, the Canton Warriors will head out on the road to face off against the Mansfield Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on January 18th. Canton is hoping to put an end to a four-game streak of away losses.
Canton suffered their biggest defeat yet this season on Wednesday. They took a serious blow against Wellsboro, falling 51-18. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat Canton has suffered against Wellsboro since January 12, 2018.
Lance Route was Canton's leading scorer, having posted six points. Route also led the team in assists with two. He held things down on the boards with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Mansfield entered their tilt with Sayre with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. Mansfield blew past Sayre 61-38. Mansfield has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matches by 23 points or more this season.
It was another big night for Dominick, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 11 rebounds. That makes it eight consecutive games in which he has scored at least a third of Mansfield's points. Another player making a difference was Cooper Shaw, who scored nine points along with ten rebounds and three steals.
Canton has been struggling recently, as they've lost five of their last six matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-8 record this season. As for Mansfield, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a nice bump to their 10-3 record this season.
Thursday's contest is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Canton have been dynamite from deep this season, having only made 33.1% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Mansfield struggles in that department as they've nailed 45.5% of their threes per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Canton came out on top in a nail-biter against Mansfield when the teams last played back in December of 2019, sneaking past 58-56. Will Canton repeat their success, or does Mansfield have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
