Cannon School upsets Providence Day
Che Roth started explaining how a 16-14 team like his Cannon School boys’ basketball squad could reach the final four in the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association’s 4A playoffs. He started talking about the injuries, the three-week break forced by COVID-19 protocols, and then he stopped, and smiled.
“The big thing is that our guys never quit believing in themselves,” Roth said Saturday evening, after his team outlasted Providence Day 72-66 in an overtime quarterfinal contest.
Cannon School, the sixth seed in 4A, advances to Tuesday’s state semifinals and a game at second-seeded Greensboro Day (31-7). The Cougars upset No. 3 seed Providence Day Saturday and took down the CISAA regular-season champions. “There really has been a fun part to this season,” Roth said.
“The belief in our locker room has never wavered. The attitudes have been off the charts.”
The Cougars were 6-9 on Dec. 21, before hitting their COVID shutdown. They’ve gone 10-5 since then.
Roth said different players have stepped up at different times during the late-season surge. Saturday night, it was sophomore Austin Swartz, who missed part of the regular season with a knee injury.
Providence Day’s Riley Allenspach had tied the game at 59-all with a 3-point field goal in the final minute of regulation. Each team missed a shot down the stretch, forcing overtime. In the four extra minutes,
Swartz took over. He hit a 3-pointer with 2:31 left, giving Cannon School a 62-60 lead. He scored on a short jump shot 22 seconds later, then hit four free throws down the stretch.
In all, Swartz scored nine of his team’s 13 points in overtime.
Senior forward D.J. Nix, who will play at Cornell next season, said the Cougars were fazed by the need for overtime. “We’ve been in these kinds of spots this season,” Nix said. “Coach likes to talk about the next-man-up mentality. That’s how we try to operate.”
Now that the Cougars are reasonably healthy and rolling, Roth said his team wants to keep playing.
“We’re in the final four,” he said. “We’ll go up to Greensboro on Tuesday night and work hard to reach the finals. I know our guys believe in themselves.”
Che Roth started explaining how a 16-14 team like his Cannon School boys’ basketball squad could reach the final four in the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association’s 4A playoffs. He started talking about the injuries, the three-week break forced by COVID-19 protocols, and then he stopped, and smiled.
“The big thing is that our guys never quit believing in themselves,” Roth said Saturday evening, after his team outlasted Providence Day 72-66 in an overtime quarterfinal contest.
Cannon School, the sixth seed in 4A, advances to Tuesday’s state semifinals and a game at second-seeded Greensboro Day (31-7). The Cougars upset No. 3 seed Providence Day Saturday and took down the CISAA regular-season champions. “There really has been a fun part to this season,” Roth said.
“The belief in our locker room has never wavered. The attitudes have been off the charts.”
The Cougars were 6-9 on Dec. 21, before hitting their COVID shutdown. They’ve gone 10-5 since then.
Roth said different players have stepped up at different times during the late-season surge. Saturday night, it was sophomore Austin Swartz, who missed part of the regular season with a knee injury.
Providence Day’s Riley Allenspach had tied the game at 59-all with a 3-point field goal in the final minute of regulation. Each team missed a shot down the stretch, forcing overtime. In the four extra minutes,
Swartz took over. He hit a 3-pointer with 2:31 left, giving Cannon School a 62-60 lead. He scored on a short jump shot 22 seconds later, then hit four free throws down the stretch.
In all, Swartz scored nine of his team’s 13 points in overtime.
Senior forward D.J. Nix, who will play at Cornell next season, said the Cougars were fazed by the need for overtime. “We’ve been in these kinds of spots this season,” Nix said. “Coach likes to talk about the next-man-up mentality. That’s how we try to operate.”
Now that the Cougars are reasonably healthy and rolling, Roth said his team wants to keep playing.
“We’re in the final four,” he said. “We’ll go up to Greensboro on Tuesday night and work hard to reach the finals. I know our guys believe in themselves.”
