Tigers plan to stick to what they know in preparing for Class 2 state final four appearance

CANTON, Mo. — Whatever you want to call it — superstition, continuity, routine — it has worked.

The Canton boys basketball team hasn’t changed anything about its approach, from the pregame meal to coach Dalton Armontrout’s outfit to the mode of transportation, during its run to the Class 2 state semifinals.

“It’s important just to stay true to who we are,” Tyler Frazier said.

That starts with how they fuel up.

Since the Tigers’ 63-45 win over Schuyler County in the District 6 championship game on Feb. 28, Tiffany Brewer — the mother of senior forward Preston Brewer — has made ham and cheese and turkey and cheese sliders for her son and his teammates.

“My mom has always made those, and before the district championship, I was like, ‘Hey, do you mind making these sliders?’ And she was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it,’” Preston Brewer said. “Ever since then, she’s just made them.”

The sliders are a fan favorite.

“Everybody seems to like them,” said Brewer, who is averaging 25.4 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. “She makes like 48 of them, and there’s maybe like one left at the end. Everybody really enjoys them. We keep eating the sliders, and we keep playing well.”

Fellow senior forward Bleu Taylor said the tasty sandwiches have become a sort of good luck charm.

“We’ve eaten the sliders a lot of our games, and we seem to play well with them,” said Taylor, who along with Frazier combined for 26 points in the Tigers’ sectional win over Clopton. “We all love them, but we seem to play better, I guess, if you want to relate those two things.”

The sliders will be making the trip to Columbia when Canton clashes with Puxico at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Mizzou Arena for a bid to the state title game. This is the Tigers’ third state final four appearance in program history and first since 2015.

“They want us to eat the same food they’ve been eating,” said Armontrout, in his third season as head coach. “We’re going to keep it with us on the bus after we eat lunch on Wednesday.”

Armontrout has found a lucky charm of his own.

“I’ve worn the same outfit since the district championship game,” Armontrout said.

That outfit consists of a maroon dress shirt, a skinny black tie, black dress pants, black dress shoes, and black Under Armour socks.

“I have not changed it,” Armontrout said. “I have not washed it. My wife steams it.”

As a former collegiate baseball player, Armontrout is prone to his superstitions, and he does not plan on wearing any other outfit at Mizzou Arena.

“I’ll wear the same thing on Wednesday, and if we win, I’ll wear the same thing on Thursday,” Armontrout said.

The way the Tigers get to the arena Wednesday morning will not change, either.

“We’re taking a regular bus down there,” Armontrout siad. “We’re not taking a charter. We’re just keeping everything simple. It’s not that far of a drive.”

The simpler the better when it comes to preparation.

“There are a lot distractions that go into making the final four, all the extra stuff,” Armontrout said. “We’re trying to keep it as normal as possible.”

Last Friday, the Tigers punched their ticket to state with a 65-60 victory over Harrisburg in comeback fashion on their home floor.

While that win and the congratulations that followed were exhilarating and appreciated, junior forward Kaden Oliver said approaching their chance to play on the big stage with humility and sticking to the same habits will serve the Tigers well.

“It’s important to stay consistent,” said Oliver, who had 25 points against Harrisburg. “You have a game like (the quarterfinal) at home, and everybody’s coming up to you and telling you how good of a game you guys had, and you tell them, ‘Thank you,’ but you really just have to stay focused and try to block it out. You’re still playing. It’s not over.”

The Tigers practiced at Culver-Stockton College’s Charles Field House on Monday and Tuesday to get used to the dimensions of a college court, which is 10 feet longer than a high school court, but other than that, the Tigers are treating their final four trip like any other.

They intend to go there and win.

“You don’t want to go to the final four just to say, ‘Oh yeah, I was at the final four,’” Brewer said. “You want to make a name for yourself.”

That means doing what got the Tigers there, both on and off the floor.

“We have to play defense, defense, defense and run our stuff,” Brewer said. “I feel like if we do that, we can bring it home.”