CORTLAND Canfield dominates numbers game

The more experienced Cardinals downed Lakeview 58-40.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CORTLAND -- The Canfield High boys basketball team had superiority in numbers.
Its coach, John Cullen, is in his 20th season at Canfield and Larry Herrholtz is in his first season at Lakeview.
Canfield was playing its fourth game of the season and Lakeview was in its opener.
Worst of all for the Bulldogs was the final score: Canfield 58, Lakeview 40.
The Cardinals (3-1) were paced by 6-2 sophomore Chad Baker and 6-0 junior Chase Booms as they scored 20 and 17 points, respectively, while grabbing seven and five of Canfield's 22 rebounds.
Senior point guard Jared Kirkpatrick was a third double figure scorer for the Cards with 10 points as he dished off six assists and had four steals.
Different halves: It was a tale of two halves for Baker and Booms with the scoring balance just right for Cullen and his Cardinals.
It was Baker, with the first of his pair of 3-pointers followed by a putback goal, who put Canfield ahead to stay at the 6:02 mark of the first quarter.
His 3-pointer broke a 2-2 deadlock and after Lakeview closed the gap to 7-6, he followed with another 3-pointer and a deuce making the score 14-6.
Baker scored six baskets in the first quarter for 14 points. He only scored one field goal in the third quarter, but was part of a four-point swing in the fourth which stretched Canfield's lead to 43-31.
It was Booms, shooting 7 of 9 from the free throw line, who picked up the Canfield intensity on offense with 12 of his 17 points in the second half.
"We had Baker get hot early, we answered their press well and for most of the game had a good shot selection," Baker said. "We came out ready to play because we knew they would be tough, and getting an early lead was definitely a big help in this win."
Can't let up: Cullen said, "This was our fourth consecutive game on the road, so the best thing for us was getting an early lead and not letting them gain early confidence, because they are a hard-playing, physical basketball team."
Lakeview played from behind most of the night, and committed 20 turnovers to Canfield's 10. Lakeview's starters scored just 20 points.
Junior Brandon Bakkar came off the bench to lead Lakeview in scoring with 10 points and sophomore Jim McHale pull down six of his team's 21 rebounds.
"With Kevin Rigby our only returning varsity performer, our young guys did a good job and I was proud of their overall effort," Herrholtz said.