Canfield boys beef up their schedule

Upgraded early schedule will benefit team

With 455 wins in 27 previous seasons etched onto an already impressive resume, John Cullen is hoping to improve upon last year’s 15-5 regular season mark and All-American Conference, Red Tier runner-up finish.

With four letter winners and three starters returning, Cullen is counting on the fact that his team will benefit late in the season from an upgraded early schedule; one that finds them playing seven Division I games in order for them to prepare for the season-ending Division I Tournament.

“We’ve intentionally beefed up our schedule in order to prepare for Division I tournament play at the end of the season.

“Playing teams like Canton GlenOak, Massillon Washington, Uniontown Lake, Austintown Fitch, Boardman, Cardinal Mooney and Howland twice can only help us over the long haul.

“Like the league, there are no patsies. So you must be at the top of your game each and every time out,” Cullen noted.

With a good season offensively, senior Mike Podolsky has an outside shot at hitting 1,000 career points, while forward Justin Vrabel is the team’s top rebounder.

Seniors Gene Wollet and Joe Hoelzel and junior Dan Campolito round out the starting five while Cullen depends on senior Donnie Allison, a small forward and junior Ryan Abraham, a back-up point guard to contribute off the bench.

Senior leadership solid for Canfield girls

Coming off a 16-9 season a year ago, head coach Pat Pavlansky is hoping that his team this season can improve that mark despite an extremely difficult schedule.

With 260 wins over 14 previous seasons as the Cardinals’ head coach, Pavlansky has arguably the gem of the Valley in point guard Jillian Halfhill; an early signee to Bowling Green State University who will graduate with four letters earned during a stellar varsity career.

“Bowling Green has been a Top-40 team over the past five years and recently defeated Vanderbilt. So the addition of Jillian to that program is an added plus for them.

“We have an extremely challenging schedule, playing Canton McKinley, a Division I Final Four participant last season, and Hathaway Brown, the Division II state champions.

“Add Boardman twice, North Canton Hoover, West Branch and Marion Harding to that mix and it should only make us a better team as the year goes on,” Pavlansky said.

Of the six letterwinners returning, three are seniors, two are juniors and a sophomore.

Joining Halfhill are senior forwards Kendal Malsch and Sara Shoemaker, both of whom Pavlansky will count upon for much needed leadership.