Chiefs earn co-division title honors
by defusing Rockets, 57-45

BY ED WRIGHT
Feb. 13, 2010, 1:50 a.m.

  Canton's boys basketball team may not be a No. 1 seed in the upcoming KLAA tournament, but it's definitely playing like one.

  The Chiefs won their ninth game in the past 10 tries Friday night by outrunning Westland John Glenn, 57-45, to improve to 11-5 overall and 8-2 in the KLAA South Division. Glenn dropped to 4-12 and 3-7, respectively.

  Canton finished tied with Wayne Memorial atop the South, but the Zebras fared better in the league's tie-breaking system, so they will be seeded first.

  The Chiefs will host Salem on Friday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the tournament, which features the top four teams in the South and Central divisions.

  Canton surged to a 21-12 first-quarter lead and was never truly threatened thereafter Friday night thanks in large part to a monster game by junior point guard Dietrich Lever, who racked up 21 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and a pair of steals.

  Kevin Weisz was strong as well, adding 13 points and seven rebounds. Paul Baumgard notched nine points and six rebounds for the winners.

  Brett Hudy led John Glenn with 14 points.

  "We played well in the first quarter in transition and we played well the first four minutes of the second quarter," said Canton coach Jimmy Reddy, a strong candidate for Coach of the Year honors. "But they have two or three really good shooters who we lost late in the half. They hit some threes and got to within seven at the half.

  "At halftime, we focused on guarding their shooters better and we did a lot better job in the second half."

  The Chiefs extended their 31-24 halftime lead to 45-31 after three quarters. They led by as many as 24 with four minutes left.

  Canton hit 13 of 18 free throws. The Rockets were four of six from the line.

  "We still have some stuff to work on," Reddy said. "We defended better this week than we did last week.

  "Salem has a very tough team. They were up one on us late and we made a few more plays than they did at the end of the game. It should be a good one."