GIRLS STATE FINAL Cards lose title game

By GEORGE WELKER
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
COLUMBUS -- This time, the deficit was just a bit too much.
The Canfield High girls basketball team is state runners up in Division II, falling 52-40 to Cincinnati Archbishop McNicholas in the championship game Saturday.
Canfield fell behind 9-0 to start its second-ever state final, and trailed by as many as 16 (21-5) early in the second quarter on cold shooting.
"I told my girls in the locker room, 'If you want a reason why we didn't win the game, well, I think they shot a little better than we did,' " said Canfield coach Pat Pavlansky.
The chill started immediately for the Cardinals, with them making just 1-of-10 field goals in the opening eight minutes.
"I'm still trying to figure it out, still looking for that perfect game," Pavlansky said of the cold start. "It just didn't happen."
Shooting woes: It didn't get any better later in the game, as Canfield finished shooting 24.5 percent from the field, compared with 50-percent shooting from McNicholas.
"We've been shooting the ball close to 50 [percent] most of the time the last half of the season, and that's why we've been winning games," Pavlansky said, noting that he didn't think the Cardinals were out of the game at any point.
"The other night gave us a lot of confidence ... that we could come back," he said, eluding to Canfield's rally from a 12-3 disadvantage in the state semifinal on Thursday.
"We were down a bunch [today] and came back right away, and had a chance and just didn't make some shots."
"We never give up when we're out there," said senior guard Julie Playforth.
Canfield warmed up in the second quarter, and pulled within 27-21 at halftime. An 11-4 run over the final 4:45 of the second quarter gave the Cardinals momentum heading into the second half.
The rally continued after halftime when Erin Martin nailed a 3-point shot and two baskets to go with a score by Nicole Vlajkovich. The surge brought Canfield within 33-30.
A quick McNicholas basket made the score 35-30, and after a Vlajkovich basket, the Rockets scored two more fast baskets for a 39-32 lead.
That was the turning point.
"That made it tough. We were going to take it to one, and have all momentum on our side," Pavlansky said. "You feel good about yourself and have a lot of energy left, and they come and make two quick hoops and it was like, whoa."
Missed opportunity: Not long after that, Canfield had another opportunity to trim the lead to one. With about 40 seconds left in the third, some rushed shots by the Cardinals and a frantic play in the middle of the key led to a McNicholas possession, and two more quick baskets for the Rockets.
"If we make one shot, when we got it down to five or three, especially in the third quarter. If we get one call to go our way, or hit a basket or something," Pavlansky said, noting with a little luck, the outcome may have been different.
Where the Rockets dominated was no mystery. Their goal was to get the ball inside to 6-foot center Ashley Clark and 5-10 forward Lynn Oberschmidt.
McNicholas dominated in points in the paint, scoring 26 in the middle, compared to Canfield's 12.
Oberschmidt led the Rockets with 15 points, while Clark added 10. Point guard Kendra Hornschemeier had 13 points.
Canfield was led by junior Erin Martin's 19 points, while Vlajkovich added 10.
"I don't want to make it really simplistic ... but, if we put the ball in the hoop a few more times, we've got a great chance," Pavlansky reiterated.
"We didn't shoot. We make a few more shots, we've got a good chance. That's what the game comes down to a lot of times."
When Canfield needed to heat up, the chill continued.
Still holding close, Canfield trimmed the McNicholas advantage to 45-40 with 2:28 left in the final quarter. But that's when the Cardinals went cold again.
The Cardinals starters missed 12 shots in the fourth quarter, not scoring after Martin made a layup to pull Canfield within 45-40.