Canfield's defense frustrates Walsh

The Cardinals' 68-23 win put them one game from the state's final four.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BARBERTON -- Canfield High, which hasn't lost a game in five weeks, continued its streak of defensive dominance with a 68-23 rout of Walsh Jesuit in a girls Division II regional semifinal at Barberton High School Tuesday night.
"This year has been amazing," said senior forward Julie Playforth, one of two starters back from last year's 19-3 team that lost to Salem in the district semifinals. "This team has come so far from where we started. Our team has never been closer than it is right now."
Next: Friday night, Canfield (19-6) will play in its first regional final since 1992, against Avon Lake (21-4), which defeated Conneaut, 48-35, in Tuesday's other semifinal.
"I thought our kids did an outstanding job on the defensive end of the court," Cardinals coach Pat Pavlansky said. "On offense, we took our time and we made them foul us."
How effective were the Cardinals?
U The Warriors were led in scoring by Kelly Sweeney, who had four points.
U Walsh Jesuit didn't break the 20-point barrier until 1 minute, 20 seconds remained in the game.
U The Warriors shot 18 percent from the field (9-of-50) and missed all 11 3-pointers they tried.
U Canfield attempted 36 free throws in the second half while Walsh Jesuit had none.
U Canfield out-scored the Warriors 25-2 off turnovers.
Offensively, the Cardinals made just 14 baskets, but they were 39-of-57 at the foul line.
Playforth said a 17-point halftime lead (30-13) was more than she could imagine because nerves were a factor.
"When we walked on the court, everyone was saying we were going to get crushed. 'They're big, you're not,' " said Playforth, who scored nine points and pulled down nine rebounds.
No doubt: Instead, Canfield took control of the game from the start, jumping out to a 13-4 lead after the first quarter.
Junior Erin Martin made a dozen free throws in the first half, including nine in the second quarter, as the Cardinals nearly doubled their lead from the first period. Martin finished with 24 points, 17 of which came at the foul line.
Junior Nicole Vlajkovich scored four of her 12 points to start the third quarter, as Canfield went on a 22-4 run to seal the Warriors' fate.
"They didn't have great matchups for Erin or Nicole or Julie," Pavlansky said. "So we moved the ball around until we got an isolation, and they took the ball to the hoop and were fouled."
The Warriors were without their leading scorer, Mary Hladky, who sat out because of mononucleosis.
"We're a defensive team," said Canfield senior Jenny Miller, "and we knew if we didn't pick it up, we had a good chance of losing."
Walsh senior forward Jessica Clarke said the Warriors, "were tense and forcing shots. We couldn't recover. They overplayed us and they were in our face at every moment of the game."