Thursday, December 27

In their second game of the North Country Christmas Tournament, the Canaan Eagles were able to win convincingly over the Stratford Lions, 69-39. A consistent effort on both sides of the ball gave the Eagles the lead early, and they never looked back. The Lions struggled against the Eagles fullcourt pressure, throwing the ball away several times, leading to easy points in the other direction.

The Canaan offense, led by Zack Daley, was on fire in the first quarter, scoring 22 points. Jordan Gaudette kept the Lions relatively close with a few three-pointers, but his team trailed 22-13 after eight minutes. The Eagles were poised to open this game wide open, but could only extend their lead to 14 by halftime. Connor and Zack Daley accounted for 30 of their team's 39 first-half points.

The Eagles changed their approach in the second half, implementing their man-to-man defense. The Lions ball-handlers had trouble getting into any sort of offensive flow with constant defensive pressure. The Canaan defense would allow only 14 points over the final 16 minutes. By the close of the third quarter, the Eagles had built a comfortable lead.

With the starters out of the game, the Eagles cruised to the 30 point victory. Connor and Zack Daley combined for a whopping 45 points, with Zack leading all scorers with 26. Jason Charest had another nice game, reaching double figures for the second consecutive game with 13 points.

The win lifts the Eagles' record above .500 at 4-3. The loss to Pittsburg in the opening game of the tournament, however, means that the Eagles will have to settle for second place for the second straight year at the Christmas Tournament.