Coming on the heels of a dominant 92-62 win over Molalla in its season opener, Canby once again attempted to defend home court Friday, Dec. 9, against Central. However, it was the Panthers who won the battle of the big cats, defeating the Cougars 83-72 after 32 minutes.
While the Cougars offense was strong throughout long stretches of the game, Central was able to penetrate into the paint for lay-ins and get buckets to nullify any Canby runs.
According to new Canby head coach Matt Taylor, the team will need to improve on that end of the floor going forward.
"I think that defensively we need to be much better," Taylor said. "We were out of position, our backside rotation was slow. I think those are the things we'll be able to work on and improve and put a better foot forward when we play Hood River Valley on Wednesday."
The team was led by 6-1 senior Connor Gensman with 29 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter. Gensman is the lone player returning who saw varsity minutes last season under coach Craig Evans. The team graduated 10 seniors last year and will have a lot of growing on the court to do before the start of the league play.
While the team lacks on-court experience at the varsity level, Taylor is encouraged by what he is seeing early on.
"We have some very capable kids," Taylor said. "We have some kids who will do some very nice things at the varsity level, but in terms of varsity game experience, we don't have a lot. It's one of those things that's kind of exciting about this year, is there's a lot of opportunity for some of these kids to step onto that varsity floor and do some good things."
Canby fell behind in the second quarter but kept things close thanks to a bevy of 3-pointers from Gensman, freshman guard Jaxson Lawson and junior guard Dallas Michel. Lawson finished the game with six points and Michel finished with nine.
While Canby still managed to record 72 points in the defeat, Taylor believes that his team can be more efficient. The former Canby eighth grade boys coach wants to see more passing from his team going forward, as well as running the floor more.
"I think tonight there were some times where we got stagnant on offense, we tried to over-dribble," Taylor said. "We do ask our guys to be aggressive and attack, but I think if we would have had more passing, working more in our basic offense, there would have been some more opportunities.
"We do want to play fast, and we do want to play hard," Taylor continued. "I tell the kids the loss is on the coach tonight. They can take credit for the Molalla win, I think there's some things I have to do a better job of coaching in game and also preparing for us. This one is on me."
Canby (1-1) will have a chance to bounce back in its first league game at 5A, taking on fellow Northwest Oregon Conference (NWOC) denizen Hood River Valley (0-4) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14. 
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