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Dual threat powers Canfield
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BASKETBALL - (14) Allie Pavlansky of Canfield drives to the hoop as (40) Kayleigh Lipke of Boardman plays defense during their game Wednesday night.
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BASKETBALL - (40) Kayleigh Lipke of Boardman and (15) Abby Baker fight for the ball during their game Wednesday night in Canfield. (44) Sabrina Mangapora (23) Sarah Vrabel of Canfield and (21) Brooke Meenachan of Boardman are in on the play.
By Jon Moffett
CANFIELD
Pat Pavlansky knew it was going to take a total team effort for his Canfield team to defeat rival Boardman High on Wednesday night.
Fortunately, that’s exactly what he got. The Cardinals were able to use a successful inside-outside game to defeat the Spartans 60-50. Pavlansky said the win was a credit to his entire team playing together.
“As far as the game goes, it was a typical Canfield-Boardman game. Both teams played hard, and I’m rally proud of our kids for hanging in there,” Pavlansky said. “We shot the ball better than we have all year, and I think we can actually shoot better than that.”
Pavlansky said his team has been shooting in the low percentages this year. He said the figures could be as low as 25-30 percent. But the Cardinals (3-1) shot close to 50 percent against the Spartans (1-2).
Six of the team’s 22 baskets came off the hot hand of Cally Wollet. Wollet had a game-high 22 points. She made five three-pointers and was 5-of-7 from the free-throw line.
Pavlansky said Wollet was able to get open in the corner because the Cardinals were executing their offense so well.
“The way our offense runs, we really want to push the ball [inside] a lot,” he said. “But you need that outside presence, too. We got her open just running some really good offense.”
Wollet’s teammates Kaitlin Kaleel and Sabrina Mangapora were some of the main reasons Wollet found success from beyond the arc. Both players tried to drive the ball inside of the Spartan defense, which resulted in several open looks on the outside.
Kaleel was second on the team with 14 points. Mangapora finished with 10.
Pavlansky said having both options was the only way his team was going to make a dent in a stout Boardman defense.
“You need both in order to be successful against them,” Pavlansky said of his opponent. “They’ve always taken away our first option, so you have to have an inside and outside option. If you don’t, you’re very easy to defend.”
Pavlansky credited a rotation that puts seven or eight different girls on the court. He said all need to contribute for the offense to run correctly.
“It takes all the girls on the court to be successful,” he said, “not just the starting five.”
Boardman showed some prolific offense, too.
Three Spartans scored in the double figures. Jenna Kuczek led the squad with 14 points, and was followed closely by Kayleigh Lipke’s 12. Brooke Meenachan, who committed to Youngstown State University and will play softball for the Penguins, finished with 10 points.
The Spartans made five 3-point baskets. Meenachan and Briana Fonderlin had two apiece, and Missy DeMarinis made the other.
Wollet’s five 3s were the only such baskets for Canfield, which will play Monday at Lakeview at 7:30 p.m.