GIRLS BASKETBALL Vertanen keys Cardinals past WGH

By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CANFIELD -- The Canfield High girls basketball team overcame opening-night jitters and 21 turnovers to hold off Warren Harding 61-50 Wednesday night.
"This was the first game for a lot of our kids," said Canfield coach Pat Pavlansky. "We don't care what it looked like. You win, you smile. So the kids were forcing smiles because they know they can play better."
Leading to victory
Canfield (1-0) got a game-high 26 points from senior forward Jill Vertanen and the Cardinals capitalized at the foul line, sinking 27 of 40 free tosses.
"We had a tough time stopping their inside game despite our pressure," said first-year Harding coach David Jenkins. "Both of our big girls fouled out and we were playing with five guards at the end."
Canfield sank 13 of 18 free throws in the final quarter to turn back the Raiders.
The Cardinals' defense was crucial as it forced several Harding turnovers during a fourth-quarter run, which helped the Raiders get to within five points several times.
"That's the first time we have played a zone [defense] in a long time," Pavlansky said. "Their guards have the ability to take the ball to the hole and we had to shut that down."
Leaders
Harding senior guard Sharina Freeman led the Raiders in scoring with 16 points, while guards Erica Molden added 13 points and sophomore Desirae Jenkins had seven.
Canfield took the game to the Raiders from the start as it jumped out to an early lead of 13-5 midway through the second quarter on the strong inside play of Vertanen and Corey Hoffman.
Vertanen scored 15 of her 26 points in the first half, while Hoffman added four points and nine first-half rebounds.
Overall, Vertanen and Hoffman evenly shared 24 rebounds. Junior Emily Wollett added 11 points.
"Canfield came ready to play," Jenkins said. "We let them dictate the game instead of being the dictators. That's one area of our game that has to improve."
Harding (0-2) suffered through a cold shooting night as it hit just 19 of 62 shots.