Canfield uses quickness to drop Howland, 64-51

Senior John Manzoian flirted with a triple-double to lead the Cardinals.

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

CANFIELD — Canfield basketball fans didn’t get much of a chance to watch John Manzoian last year. After his performance Friday night, they might wonder why.

“You hear of Sean Baker?” Canfield coach John Cullen said, smiling. “John was behind him. That’s why.”

Manzoian played mostly as a defensive replacement for last year’s Metro Athletic Conference champions. Now a senior point guard, his speed and quickness created a matchup nightmare for visiting Howland on Friday night.

Manzoian finished with eight points and had team-highs of seven rebounds and 10 assists as the Cardinals (5-1, 2-0) used a terrific start to hand the Tigers their first league loss, 64-51.

Canfield grabbed a 19-5 lead after the first quarter and led from start to finish. Howland trailed by double digits most of the game, but narrowed the gap to six (57-51) with 1:45 left in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals then scored the game’s final seven points to put it away.

“We tried to turn it into a full-court game,” Cullen said. “They [the Tigers] have too much size and they’re too skilled inside. They have experience all over the place.”

Canfield, on the other hand, lost all five starters to graduation. The Cardinals start four seniors this year, but they’re still learning, Cullen said.

“These seniors had to wait their turn,” Cullen said. “They’ve done a good job and they’re trying to be a solid one-year team. We still have a lot of room for growth.”

Cullen may mean that literally. Manzoian is generously listed at 5-10 and probably isn’t going to get much bigger.

“I had to work on other parts of my game,” he said, smiling.

Manzoian does a lot of work with Jump Stretch to try and increase his speed. It seems to be working — “Sometimes we can’t even keep up with him,” Cullen said — and he played his best Friday when it mattered most, dishing out seven assists in the second half.

Manzoian wasn’t bothered by sitting behind Baker last year — “It was a good learning experience,” he said, “and it took the pressure off me — and he doesn’t mind that Poland has gotten most of the attention in the league so far.

“It’s kind of nice to be the underdog,” he said. “No one sees you coming.”

Senior Brian Fox led Canfield with 16 points and seven rebounds, while senior Matt Keating had 12 points and six rebounds, senior Andrew Kuchmaner had 11 points and six rebounds and sophomore Mike Podolsky had 10 points.

Tyler Scott, a 6-4 junior, had 13 points and seven rebounds for Howland (5-2, 1-1), while Kyle Spence (6-2) had 11 points, Nathan Cope had 10 and Jared Kirin (6-6) had 11 rebounds.

Both teams struggled at the line. Canfield made 4 of 11, while Howland was 5 of 19.

“All I want for Christmas is better foul shooting,” Cullen said.

scalzo@vindy.com