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Cardinals’ Halfhill signs to become a BG Falcon
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HIGH FLYING CARDINAL: Jillian Halfhill (4) drives to the bucket as North Canton Hoover's Jessica Carpenter (33) plays defense during Wednesday's game in Canfield. The Vikings tripped up the Cardinals, 48-45, with a winning layup and free throw by Allison Pearce.
Canfield's Bryanne Halfhill scores 1,000th point.
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Canfield's Bryanne Halfhill scores 1,000th point.
Cardinal Jillian Halfhill signs to become a Falcon
The senior point guard signed a letter-of-intent for a basketball scholarship to Bowling Green State University.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CANFIELD — In his 15 seasons as Canfield High’s girls basketball coach, Pat Pavlansky has worked with plenty of Division I college talent.
Jillian Halfhill’s talents were so obvious that Pavlansky says he spotted her college potential eight years ago.
“She was in fourth grade and played our sixth-graders in our middle school tournament,” Pavlansky said Thursday after the Canfield senior point guard signed her letter-of-intent for a basketball scholarship to Bowling Green State University. “She was that good back then and she’s even better now.”
In Halfhill’s three seasons as Canfield’s point guard, the Cardinals compiled a 55-16 record and twice qualified for the Division II regional.
Halfhill, the daughter of Brian and Renee Halfhill, is following in the footsteps of her sister, Bryanne, who is in her second season playing basketball for the University of Chicago.
Jillian says she misses her older sister.
“We used to go into the back yard every day and shoot,” Halfhill said. “When she left, I had to adjust big time. She’s like my best friend.”
Pavlansky said Halfhill’s role has change drastically since her first two varsity seasons when the starters included Bryanne, Kate Popovec (Pitt) and Melissa West (Bowling Green softball).
“She was more a distributor of the basketball [because] she had a much greater supporting cast,” Pavlansky said. “But she could score — she had 25-point games back then.
“Last year, her role totally changed as she had to score and bring it up the court and talk to the team,” Pavlansky said. “She had to do everything.”
Halfhill said playing with her sister, Popovec and West “was awesome. They pushed so hard and made me better just by being there, especially my sister.
“Every day, she’d make us get there early and stay late,” Halfhill said after a signing ceremony in the athletic foyer.
Halfhill has earned all conference honors in her three seasons. As a sophomore, she was named to the All-Northeastern Ohio second team and honorable mention for All-Ohio.
Last season, Halfhill earned first team all-Northeastern Ohio and second team all-Ohio. She averaged 19.8 points, 4.9 assists, 3-4 rebounds and 3 steals per game.
The Cardinals won the district tournament to earn their second straight regional appearance.
“We weren’t supposed to get far,” Halfhill. “We all stepped into new roles, especially me. I was used to the passing role but I had to take on the shooting role. It was a new experience.”
Halfhill said it “took a while” before she became comfortable with her added responsibilities.
“I was always passing so in practice Pav told me, ‘no passing, just shooting,’ ” Halfhill said.
Playing All-American Conference Red Tier opponents Salem and Howland plus nearby Boardman has provided strong competition that Halfhill believes has made her stronger.
“We don’t want to play a fluff schedule,” said Halfhill who includes Salem’s Amy Scullion (Ohio State recruit) among the toughest opponents she has faced. “I had to guard Amy Scullion — that was torture.”
williams@vindy.com