Basketball Preview: Canton Golden Bears vs. Massena Raiders
Canton is 8-2 against the Raiders since January of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Canton Golden Bears will head out on the road to challenge the Massena Raiders at 7:00 p.m. Canton will be looking to extend their current five-game winning streak.
Last Thursday, Canton beat the Sandstoners 43-34. Given Canton's advantage in MaxPreps' New York basketball rankings (they are ranked 71st, while the Sandstoners are ranked 246th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, it may have taken overtime to finish the job, but Massena ultimately got the result they hoped for on Saturday. They skirted past South Jefferson 55-53.
Taylor Mitchell and Colin Patterson were among the main playmakers for Massena as the former scored 16 points along with six rebounds and six steals and the latter scored 29 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Patterson has scored all season.
Canton's win bumped their record up to 9-3. As for Massena, they are on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 12 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 11-5 record this season.
Canton strolled past the Raiders in their previous meeting back in December of 2023 by a score of 54-38. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Mitchell, who scored 21 points along with three steals. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Canton still be able to contain Mitchell? There's only one way to find out.
