Canfield impressive in big 58-42 victory The Cardinals defeated 2007 Div. II state runner-up Hathaway Brown at home.
By RYAN JONES
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CANFIELD — Canfield coach Pat Pavlansky knew suiting up against Hathaway Brown, the 2007 Division II state runner-up, would go a long way to determine the validity of the Cardinals’ state title aspirations.
With a 58-42 victory over the Blazers, Pavlansky and his team affirmed that they can compete on an all-state level.
Pavlansky said he preached the little things in preparation for the game against Hathaway Brown.
“Doing the little things-making backdoor cuts, boxing out on free throws and executing the offense are so important in a game like this,” he said. “We have played a strong schedule this season, but top to bottom this is the most athletic team we have faced.”
Pavlanksy said his team played the most complete game of the season.
“We grew up tonight,” he said. “We’ve held some leads against good teams, but let some get away from us. This is the first time we’ve put four quarters of focused basketball together. We dove on the floor and hustled for loose balls more in four quarters tonight than we have all year.”
The Cardinals — who held an 18-9 lead after the first quarter, and a 27-20 advantage at halftime — found adversity when 6-foot-4 senior Kate Popovec picked up her fourth foul with 5:09 left in the third quarter.
“She only had one foul to start the third quarter,” Pavlansky said. “She’s usually good about avoiding foul trouble, but she got a few cheap ones and then made a mistake for her fourth.”
Pavlansky said he kept Popovec in the game because he trusts all of his players to make smart decisions.
“She’s played something like 1,800 minutes in her career,” he said. “When I put her back in with four minutes left in the game some of my assistants wanted me to wait longer.”
Following Popovec’s departure the Blazers went on a 7-0 run capped off by Mylan Woods’ lay-up from the left block to cut the lead to 32-30. Canfield appeared to be reeling, but the stellar play of Bryanne Halfhill brought the Cardinal offense to life.
Halfhill totaled 12 of her game-high 18 points in the second half. The 5-foot-9 senior connected on four treys and dished out six assists.
Halfhill connected from downtown to increase the lead to 37-30 in the third quarter, scored the Cardinals first four points of the fourth quarter, and buried the Blazers with a 3 from the left corner to push the lead to 52-42 with 2:30 remaining.
“The offense is a little different when Kate is out,” Halfhill said. “There’s more passing and cutting and moving without the ball which opens up chances for us to drive to the hoop. When Kate came back into the game I told her that I expected her to be a powerhouse inside. Our mindset before the game was that we were going to win. Tonight was the first time that we played all four quarters with that mindset.”
Pavlansky said he also was impressed with the interior defense of senior Theresa Luklan who had to defend Hathaway’s Angela Groves when Popovec was in foul trouble.
“She did a great job on Groves for us,” he said. “She is a senior who averages about seven minutes per game, but she has never quit and stuck it out all these years. She was really big for us tonight.”
Popovec had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Canfield, and Jillian Halfhill added eight markers and five assists.
Woods led Hathaway Brown with 16 points and Groves had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.