Three times the charm: Canton captures third consecutive district championship

QUEEN CITY, Mo. — Winning one district championship proved significant.

Capturing a second crown was rewarding.

But a third? In a row? That will leave you almost speechless. Just ask Preston Brewer.

“I honestly can’t put it into words how I feel about winning it three times in a row,” the senior forward said Friday night after the top-seeded Canton boys basketball team beat second-seeded Schuyler County 53-45 in the Class 2 District 6 title game. “I know that not many people or teams have won three, let alone three in a row. So I can’t really put into words how I feel right now.”

The one thing that did come to mind was pride.

“We had a lot of guys distribute well and a lot of guys step up in moments,” Brewer said.

Chris Alspaw knocked down 4 of 5 3-pointers and scored 12 points, complementing Brewer’s 18 points and Kaden Oliver’s 14 points.

“Alspaw got hot and he made a lot of threes at pivotal times in the game,” Brewer said.

It helped the Tigers (22-5) take control in the second quarter, building a xx-point lead at halftime.

“Offense started clicking, we started getting stops on defense and that’s when we really started opening it up,” Brewer said.

It helped take the home crowd out of the game.

“It was probably the loudest it has been up there,” Brewer said. “It was loud and electric in there.”

Canton’s experience paid off in that atmosphere.

“I was proud of the way we handled it,” Brewer said. “We didn’t freak out when the moment got too big. Our experience paid off big time. We had guys who have been there so we know what that atmosphere feels like. We were able to handle it and not put more pressure on ourselves.”

The Tigers stayed composed, too.

“In the fourth quarter, we really milked the clock and let time run out,” Brewer said.

It sets up a rematch with Clopton (18-9) in Monday’s sectional in Clarksville, Mo. The Tigers beat the Hawks 86-78 in December.

“We’ll be ready to go,” Brewer said.