Champions: A Story of Canton Academy’s JV Boys’ District Championship

By Kee Curro

On Saturday, January 25, the Canton Academy junior high boys basketball team accomplished something that has not been done by the team in some time: They won a district championship! This team has shown grit and resilience all season long. There were many ups and downs, but the Panthers put their hearts and effort together, which resulted in a first place trophy at Winona Christian. 

To tell this story to the fullest, let’s rewind time to the very first practice in the fall, right after the last football game. The Panthers had already suffered a disadvantage, with practice starting a week late because one of the football games had been postponed to make the season longer. Along with the long football season, two starting players were still playing up on the varsity football team, which was still in season. Those two factors only allowed the Panthers about two weeks to prepare for the first game. The practices were disappointing and, at times, discouraging. The team was rusty at best, and it showed during those two long weeks of practice and throughout the first two games.  The Panthers finally got their first win, 54-12 over Central Holmes. That win seemed to be just the fire the Panthers needed, sparking a four-game winning streak. Things were looking up; however, the Panthers hit their next slump with three straight losses, and the winning high was gone. The Panther offense was inconsistent, but the defense seemed to continue to hold with the constant 2-2-1 press they ran. The team ended up finishing 10-10 in the regular season with a 3-5 district record. There were not one but four tough losses to Oak Hill and Winona Christian, two split games with Winston Academy, and a sweep against Carroll Academy. The Panthers held the tiebreaker over Winston, which gave them the number three seed position. Winona was the one, Oak Hill at the two, and Winston was at the four seed, leaving Carroll the five seed in the tournament. 

The Panthers knew that the two previous losses to Oak Hill were very competitive games, although they came up just short both times. Oak Hill was trash-talking for the entirety of both games, which will make any athlete want to face a competitor again. For that reason, it was the Panthers’ hope to play number two seed Oak Hill in the semi-finals, which is what fate had for them. Expecting to face Oak Hill, it was apparent the Panthers had decidedly locked in as a team as they stepped onto the court. They had had a week of successful practice and felt more than ready. And ready they were! Although Oak Hill tried to make it interesting in the end, the Panthers came out and dominated for most of the game, defeating Oak Hill, 50-36. The next day, the Panthers had an awful practice. Players described it as “miserable.” Coach Seth Cheatham instructed the players that they better get their heads together before playing the Winona Christian Stars in Winona for the district championship. 

Just one day after that discouraging practice, the team arrived in Winona, Mississippi, one by one walking into the Winona Christian gym feeling that everything was against them. Not only did the Stars have a home-court advantage for this championship match up, they also flaunted intimidatingly bigger kids and a rowdy blue and yellow student section. Winona had defeated CA earlier in the season twice for two reasons: their defense and their size. The Panthers had not made adjustments for those earlier games, and they would not make that mistake again. The game plan was to play a lot more zone defense, mixing in a 2-3 zone and a box and 1 defense while also playing some man to man. On the offensive side of the ball, the plan wasn’t anything particularly special, running the same plays that they had been running all year. However, the magic came from an obvious teamwork mindset and pure determination, which meant that the guys executed each play to the best of his abilities. 

Winona had a raucous fan environment, with a pregame light show to introduce the players. It seemed they had all the momentum, with an obviously bigger cheering section at home. The Stars won the opening tip-off and went down the court for an easy lay-up. Fortunately, the Panthers settled down and made the plays needed on both sides of the ball. Canton Academy faced adversity early in the second quarter with an injury. Another player was injured in the third quarter. Both were able to return to the game. This resilient Panther team kept pushing through, hitting many shots and finishing at the rim for some and ones.  As the buzzer sounded, much to the joy of the Panthers and their fans, the final scoreboard showed, “Visitor- 36, Stars-26.” After an exciting season and a physically tough game, the Panthers had finished strong with a 3- AAAA district championship. Canton Academy finished 12-10 on the season, with a sought after first place trophy in hand. What a season it was!