43
Canfield outlasts Fitch for victory
By Jim Flick
canfield
After falling behind early, the Canfield High girls basketball team raised their offensive intensity and clamped down on defense to defeat Austintown Fitch 62-43 Thursday night.
The game started with a strong early run by Austintown Fitch (6-3). The Falcons held a commanding 11-2 lead in the first quarter.
But Canfield (5-3) recovered quickly, trying the score at 14-14 at end of the first quarter. At halftime, Austintown still seemed somewhat in control, holding a one-point lead, 30-29.
Canfield slipped ahead in the third quarter, outscoring Austintown 13-10 to take a 42-40 lead at the end of the quarter.
The game turned completely around in the fourth quarter, which the Cardinals completely dominated. Canfield scored 20 points in the final quarter, while holding the Falcons to just three points.
Canfield’s determined defense held Austintown to only 13 points in the entire second half.
Canfield’s Sabrina Mangapora, a sophomore, was the game’s leading scorer, tallying 17 points. Seniors Kaitlin Kaleel and Cally Wollett each scored 14 points for the Cardinals, while senior Kellie Kesner contributed seven points.
Erica Braxton and Mariah Snowden each scored 10 points to lead the Falcons’ offense, while Megan Sefcik connected for eight points.
“Fitch came out with extreme intensity,” said Canfield coach Pat Pavlansky. “We know we can defend, but in the first half we gave up some uncontested layups and open shots.”
But in the second half, he added, the Canfield players took the attitude that everything the Falcons tried to do needed to be contested.
A key to the defensive effort was Wollett, who defended Austintown’s Sefcik, who is the Falcon’s top offensive weapon, frequently scoring 20 points or more, said Pavlansky. But Wollett held Sefcik to just eight points.
Wollett “was sucking air out there because she was running so hard,” Pavlansky said.
In the fourth quarter, Canfield’s strong defense forced Fitch to commit fouls, which sent the Cardinals to the free-throw line. Canfield sank 10 free throws in the fourth quarter, which accounted for half their scoring in the final quarter.
Canfield also out-rebounded Fitch 35-29, with Mangapora leading the Cardinals’ efforts on the boards.
“It’s never easy to play at Canfield,” said Fitch coach Stacie Cepin. “They’re a good, solid team that executes well.”
Cepin added that her team simply made too many mistakes in the fourth quarter.
Mangapora gave the Cardinals their first lead of the night in the opening moments of the second quarter, when she drove to the basket and sank a layup to put Canfield in front 16-14. The teams traded the lead throughout the second quarter. Snowden scored a bucket that gave the Falcons a one-point leader at halftime.
In the third quarter, Snowden and Braxton scored the first baskets to give Austintown a 34-29 lead. But Canfield scored the next 11 points to take a 40-34 lead. Austintown battled back, and Sefcik sank a driving layup at the buzzer to cut Canfield’s lead to single basket, 42-40, at the end of the third quarter.
But then came the fourth quarter, when Canfield completely took control of the game.