Sunday, February 14, 2010
CANFIELD — The Struthers Wildcats knew that it would be a challenge to play two games within an 18-hour span.
Canfield on the other hand, was well-rested, having played just once since defeating Salem on January 30.
The rested Cardinals proved to be too much for Struthers on Saturday, as Jillian Halfhill had a team-high 24 points to pace the Cardinals’ 76-61 victory.
Canfield (11-7) has won fourth straight and seven of their last eight games after starting the season 4-6.
Halfhill, who will play at Bowling Green State, can pinpoint exactly when the season took an about face.
“Howland came to our gym and embarrassed us to send us to 4-6. We played some good competition during the early portion of our schedule but after our game with Howland, we realized that we would have to step it up and become accountable if we wanted to turn our season around,” she said.
“When we play good defense our offense is better and that was exactly the case for us today,” Halfhill said.
The first half turned out to be an offensive duel between Halfhill and the Wildcats’ Dana Mathews.
Cally Wollet’s five points helped Canfield to an 11-9 lead, but a four-point play by Mathews gave Struthers a 13-11 margin.
Two 3-pointers and two free throws by Halfhill then keyed a 10-5 run by Canfield as the Cardinals built a 21-18 advantage after the first eight minutes.
Mathews, who had four 3-pointers of her own, nailed one from beyond the arc and added four free throws in the second period but Canfield outscored the Wildcats 18-15 to forge a 39-33 halftime lead.
“Our goal is to hold the opposition to 11 points in a quarter, knowing that if we can hold a team to 44 points for the game then we have a pretty good shot at winning,” said Canfield coach Pat Pavlansky.
“We did that once today and offensively played a nice game as well. We chart possessions and in the third quarter scored 28 points on 16 possessions.”
Wollet, Halfhill and Kaitlyn Kaleel combined for 17 points in the third quarter as the Cardinals outscored the Wildcats, 28-11, for a 67-44 margin.
“Dana [Mathews] is a very good player and today she showed why she is one of the top players in the area,” said Struthers coach John Grandy.
“I was proud of everyone’s effort today. What hurt was that we let some scoring opportunities get away from us while missed free throws at critical times proved costly as well.
“The one thing we won’t do is make excuses, but we did run out of gas. Give Canfield credit because they are an excellent team,” Grandy said.
The loss was just the second in the past nine outings for the Wildcats, who have already assured themselves of a share of the All American Conference’s White Tier crown.
Mathews led the Wildcats with 27 points.