Defense has led Cards to state

Canfield meets Pemberville Eastwood Thursday in the Division II semifinal at 9 p.m.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CANFIELD -- The Canfield High girls basketball team has cleared a path to the Division II state tournament.
Without a starter taller than 5-foot-9.
Without recent state tournament experience.
And with just two seniors, a sophomore point guard and a host of underclassmen coming off the bench.
Talented teams: "The last couple of years, people really thought we had teams that could win and move on to the state tournament," Canfield coach Pat Pavlansky said. "It's just that our district has been very good the last few years.
"We really thought, watching Poland play in the regional last year, if we were there we had a great chance," Pavlansky said. "But we didn't get there."
Until this year, when the Cardinals (20-6) have ridden an 11-game winning streak to Columbus. They will play Pemberville Eastwood (24-2) Thursday in a state semifinal at Ohio State University's Schottenstein Center. Game time is 9 p.m.
"I've been saying all year that if we had a 6-3 girl in the middle, we could play with anybody," Pavlansky laughed. "Our biggest starter is 5-9. I guess you don't need a 6-3 girl to get to Columbus."
What a team does need is a strong defense, and Canfield has that.
"Our defense is our main strength," junior Nicole Vlajkovich said. "That's where we get our offense from. Whenever we're down we know, if we pick up our defense, that can pick up everything. If you get a steal, that pumps up the whole team.
"It's not really to see how many points we can score -- because we know we can score -- it's mainly to stop the other team from scoring."
Pavlansky said, "We may not get the athletes the other teams have. We know for us to have a chance, we have to play great defense and then create some offense off our defense."
In their two regional victories -- over Walsh Jesuit (68-23) and Avon Lake (48-45) -- the Cardinals had just 17 turnovers while forcing 50, Pavlansky said. That has enabled them to attempt more shots and, consequently, score more points.
"Because we're so small, we intimidate other teams by being quick," senior Julie Playforth said.
And by being consistent.
Coming together: Canfield's winning streak began Feb. 3 in a victory over Struthers. Two days later, the Cardinals learned a lot about themselves in a game against Boardman.
"We won a tough game at home against Struthers on a Saturday night," Pavlansky said. "Then, we had to turn around and play Boardman on Monday night.
"We probably played one of the best games of the year."
The Cardinals defeated Boardman 63-53 in a game that propelled them down the stretch.
"People figured they were going to crush us," Playforth said. "After that game we looked at each other and said that we're coming together now more than ever."
Pavlansky said of the Spartans, "We made them a better team, but they made us a better team. They gave us confidence that we could play with everybody, because we respect them so much.
"Year in and year out, they've been the best team around. When you get a win over Boardman, you've earned it. All of a sudden, we've won 11 in a row."
Scouting the starters: Canfield has done that with the leadership of seniors Playforth and Jenny Miller.
Junior Erin Martin is not only the team's leading scorer with 19 points per game, she has grown to be an all-around player.
"She's become a scorer for us, no doubt," Pavlansky said. "What people don't understand is that when she's not scoring -- because teams want to take her away -- she's dishing the ball off. Her assists have gone up."
Vlajkovich has raised her shooting percentage throughout the season, and sophomore Kelly Williams, the point guard, has benefited from time off following a sore back.
"She's a kid I can depend on," Pavlansky said of Williams. "We rested Kelly quite a bit in the second half of the season and kept telling her that we're going to get her ready for tournament time."
Williams is ready, as are the Cardinals. "I really believe our kids are going to play well on Thursday night," Pavlansky said. "That's not a boisterous thing, that's not a bragging thing.
"We've been playing well -- why wouldn't we play well again?"