Canfield's defense shuts down Howland, 46-39

The Cardinals held the Tigers to just two points in the second quarter.
By Chuck Housteau
Vindicator Correspondent
CANFIELD -- Canfield coach Pat Pavlansky wasn't happy with his team's aggressiveness during a sluggish first quarter of play by his Cardinals against the Howland Tigers.
Pavlansky said lack of aggressiveness has been a problem in the early season for his young team.
After a pretty tough scolding during the timeout following that first period which saw Canfield trailing 14-9, the Cardinals responded by slapping a near shutout on Howland in the second quarter to turn the game around.
Canfield (6-4, 1-0) outscored Howland 14-2 in the period and went on to defeat the Tigers 46-39 in a Metro Athletic Conference game.
Popovec has double-double
Kate Popovec scored 20 points and grabbed 20 rebounds to lead the Cardinals while teammate Bryanne Halfhill added 13 points.
Popovec dominated the inside all night on both ends of the floor as Canfield opened up leads of as many as 11 points before holding off a late Howland charge down the stretch.
"We've really been working on our aggressiveness in all facets of our game," Pavlansky said. "I think our second quarter tonight could go a long way in turning us around this year.
"It was a huge quarter for us against a good team and I'm real proud of the kids."
Cardinals take control
Canfield's defense really took control of the game as they limited Howland to just one field goal in 13 shot attempts. The Cardinals rotated as many as 10 players into the game to help keep up the pressure on the Tigers.
"We're really young at the post position and that hurt us tonight," said Howland coach John Diehl. "We played a nice first quarter and a nice second half but we couldn't overcome that second period.
"Canfield's a good team but we played hard until the end and I'm looking forward to facing them later this year at our home."
After Canfield opened up a 37-26 lead on a 3-point basket by Halfhill near the end of the third quarter, Howland chipped away at the Cardinal's lead in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers got the lead down to 42-39 on a basket by Ellie Shields with 12 seconds left but Canfield put the game away at the free throw line.
Melissa West and Popovec did the job by knocking down some key free throws.
Shields leads Howland
Howland got strong performances by Shields who finished with 12 points and seven rebounds while Alexa Williams chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds.
Carly Sabat added nine points while Melissa Airhart grabbed eight rebounds.
"Our guards did a great job tonight," Pavlansky said. "We had a season low eight turnovers so our guards did a good job of protecting the basketball and getting the ball to people inside for easy baskets."