Tigers get over district championship hump, run away from Wildcats to capture crown

QUEEN CITY, Mo. — The reason the Canton girls basketball team didn’t receive the No. 1 seed for the Class 2 District 6 tournament seemed to make sense, at least on paper anyway.

There was a three-game difference in the win column between top-seeded Milan and the second-seeded Tigers.

What the straight numbers didn’t take into account was the strength of schedule and any momentum built heading into the postseason. Canton seemed to have the edge in both. So the fact the Tigers ran away with a 61-35 victory in Saturday’s championship tilt wasn’t much of a surprise in its own right.

“Everybody was kind of a little bit distraught by not being the No. 1 seed,” Canton coach Danielle Baker said after her team won its eighth straight game and 11th in its last 12 tries.

The Tigers let the seeding snub be a proverbial chip on their shoulder.

“It absolutely was that,” Baker said.

What came of it was a complete effort.

“The girls played extremely well,” Baker said. “It was probably our best game of the year.”

It put the past to rest. This was Canton’s third straight appearance in the district championship game, but its first title. The Tigers lost to Scotland County in 2023 and Clopton in 2024.

Now, they get a shot at revenge. Canton (18-10) will play Clopton (23-3) in the Class 2 sectional at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Clarksville, Mo. Clopton won the District 5 title with a 55-34 victory over Paris, and the Hawks have won six games in a row since a loss to Quincy Notre Dame.

Clopton beat Canton 70-61 on Dec. 10 in a regular-season matchup.

“We are so much better now than we were earlier this year,” Baker said. “The strides we’ve made we played Clopton. Whatever happens is going to happen, but it’s still a huge testament of where we were and where we;ve come. I’m excited for that game.”

Plus, she wants to see if her defense can continue to lock down. Canton held Milan’s Marian Dabney, who came in averaging better than 18 points per game, to just nine points.

It was further validation the Tigers deserved the No. 1 seed.

“You play such a tough schedule and you want to be rewarded at the end,” Baker said. “So the girls really wanted to get the district title.”