Crown may be in the Cards

Sophomore Jill Vertanen was instrumental in Canfield's 14-point victory.
By GEORGE WELKER
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
COLUMBUS -- When the Canfield High girls basketball team needed to overcome nervousness, they looked to one of its youngest players.
Conquering self-described "jitters" and two scoring droughts that might have sidelined them, the Cardinals advanced to the state championship game Thursday with a 54-40 victory over Pemberville Eastwood in a Division II semifinal at Value City Arena.
Canfield (21-6) will face Cincinnati McNicholas (21-6) in the state title game at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Player pivotal: The answer to the Cardinals' early troubles, which found them trailing 12-3, and weathering a rally later in the game, was sophomore Jill Vertanen.
Vertanen broke a string of missed shots in the first quarter and started a rally that brought the Cardinals quickly back into the game.
Later, Vertanen stopped a dry spell that saw the Cardinals scoreless for 4 minutes, 24 seconds into the third quarter.
With Eastwood (24-3) threatening -- an 8-0 run to start the third cut Canfield's lead to 33-30 -- Vertanen nailed a pair of free throws to stave off the risk.
"We even told each other 'Don't go out there and rush any shots because we watched the game before ours and [the teams] did the exact same thing,' " said senior guard Julie Playforth, noting that the Cardinals were nervous in their first trip to the state final four.
"It was ugly, I know that," said Canfield coach Pat Pavlansky. "We were just begging for some points."
After the first Vertanen basket, with 1:32 remaining in the first quarter, a fast break on a long pass from Kelly Williams to Playforth brought Canfield within 12-7.
The basket, following an Eastwood turnover, kick-started a run that brought the Cardinals to within 12-11. The Cards trailed 14-11 at the end of the first quarter.
"That sort of got us going," Pavlansky said. "That's the way it's been all year. Our defense gets our offense going."
Its nervousness conquered, Canfield began to assert itself on defense, forcing turnovers and becoming more active on the boards.
The Cardinals finished with just nine turnovers while forcing 20, and stayed within 28-22 on rebounds despite being undersized inside.
Cornerstone: "That's our defense, getting pressure on the ball and getting up in [passing] lanes," said senior guard Jenny Miller, who battled foul trouble most of the game.
"Everybody has a job on defense, we all pitch in to do it."
Vertanen made 5-of-5 field goals and sank two free throws for 12 points. The Cardinals were led by junior forward Erin Martin's 13 points, and Playforth added 10.
Later, with Eastwood threatening again (41-38), Vertanen scored six straight points for Canfield, pushing the lead back to 47-40 with 2:53 remaining in the game.
Eastwood never scored again.
"One thing we tried to change is we were taking too many jumpers," Pavlansky said of Eastwood working back into the game. "We wanted to take it to the hoop and get fouled a little bit. When we started correcting that, then, the weakside came open for Jill."