Canfield regroups, tops Mooney for 14th win

Chad Baker and Frank Turocy helped Canfield overcome a poor third quarter.
& lt;a href=mailto:bassetti@vindy.com & gt;By JOHN BASSETTI & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- A fan escorted out of the gym for badgering. Several unpopular calls by officials. A fun game.
A fun game?
That's what Frank Turocy considered Tuesday's Canfield-Mooney tussle that had its share of ugly moments. But it was a fun game.
The fun part was being on the winning side, and Canfield has Turocy and Chad Baker to thank for that.
After Mooney got the lead for the first time since early in the game, Baker put Canfield back on top with four straight points. Then Turocy had a steal and electrifying dunk at the 4:46 mark to punctuate the upswing as Canfield prevailed, 55-48.
Although Mooney's Dave Zidian had a game-high 23 points, Baker made 12 of his team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter when Canfield (14-4) cashed in 15-of-19 free throws.
Inconsistent
"We played a great third quarter, but I wouldn't give you much for the first, second and fourth," said Mooney coach Nick Bellino, whose team outscored Canfield 14-4 in the third period before watching its tenuous lead whittled away.
"I was looking for the moment to break open the game," Turocy said of his dazzling display. "I saw Jeff's [Hehr] eyes and was reading the pass. Then I shot into the passing lane. After I got it, I was thinking I wanted to take it all the way. I wasn't going to let them catch up to me and foul me."
Turocy was more intense than usual because his jersey was grabbed while trying to make a layup.
"I was fired up because I was tackled on a fast break," Turocy said of a play a few possessions before his steal and dunk. "It was real emotional and fun to play."
Turocy, whose vertical jump is at least 42 inches, finished with 11 points.
Third quarter
Canfield had a 30-23 halftime lead until Mooney's run in the third quarter, when Canfield made just two baskets. In the second half, Canfield made only 5-of-21 goals.
"Mooney doesn't take a lot of bad shots -- they have a real high shooting percentage," Canfield coach John Cullen said. "But if we're taking bad shots and they're taking good shots, that's how they make runs on you. We just didn't do a very good job of paying attention to that philosophy of good shot selection. Then when we got that back, we were OK.
"It's got to be a possession war when you play against a team that doesn't beat itself," Cullen added. "You find that out against teams that are really strong with their possessions, such as the Polands and Mooneys. Every possession counts."
Mooney shot 19-of-35 from the field.
Results
Canfield adhered to its sound offensive philosophy during the first half and the results showed.
"We did some solid things, but then got completely away from that in the second half," Cullen said. "They made that run on us and it got pretty ugly. But we regained our composure in a pretty emotional game and made our free throws down the stretch.
"We just wanted to beat them because they beat us the last two years," he added. "You want to make amends."
It was sweet for seniors such as Baker, Turocy, point guard Andrew Havas, John Virostko and Pat Todd.
Virostko was guarding Hehr and Todd came off the bench to help Jordan Ferns cover Ron Stoops, who had just four points.
"Sometimes, when Zidian scores as much as he does," Bellino said, "it takes some of Ron's points from him. If we go another two or three passes, then Stoops gets the ball."
Foul line
Bellino, who wished that Mooney hadn't sent Canfield to the foul line so much, also wished that his team would have been more patient and had fewer turnovers.
"We played a team that was very patient, that controlled the tempo of the game. That's their style," Bellino said. "Unless you can change that style -- and we're not capable by pressing or putting a lot of pressure on them -- then you have to play that style.
"So we passed the ball three times and they'd pass it nine," he added. "Either we got what we wanted or lost it and they got what they wanted."
& lt;a href=mailto:bassetti@vindy.com & gt;bassetti@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;