Super sophomores guide Howland past Cards, 62-51

Taylor Williams had 29 points and 20 rebounds and Erika Nites scored 18 to lead the Tigers.

By TOM WILLIAMS

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

CANFIELD — Over the past decade, Howland High girls basketball coach John Diehl has coached five centers who have gone on to play at Division I colleges.

Diehl says sophomore Taylor Williams is showing the potential to be the best of the bunch.

Against All-American Conference Red Tier rival Canfield on Saturday, Williams sizzled, scoring 29 points, pulling down 20 rebounds and blocking numerous Cardinals shots to lead the Tigers (9-2, 1-0) to a 62-51 victory.

“She’s by far ahead of any of those,” Diehl said. “She not only blocks but she controls the block and I’ve never had a girl who could do that.”

Sophomore Erika Nites contributed 18 points as the defending champions opened league play with this first victory at Canfield since 2000. Last year, the Tigers beat Cardinals in Canfield’s home game that was played at the then-Chevrolet Centre.

“Taylor is good at everything,” Nites said. “She blocks shots and she’s an offensive threat.”

Last year’s Howland team was powered by seniors Kelly Barzak, Megan Long and Abby Nicholas. Williams and Nites have taken charge in their absence.

“My fear on this team is that I don’t have a senior who says give me the ball and I’m going to score,” Diehl said, “Tonight, as sophomores Nites and Williams stepped it up ... so maybe they are maturing a little quicker than I thought.”

Canfield coach Pat Pavlansky estimated that Williams also had close to 10 blocks.

“They are really good and they played extremely well tonight,” Pavlansky said. “My hope is that on Monday when we watch the films, we will learn a ton and be better for it.”

After a tight first quarter, the Tigers seized control of the game with strong spurts to open the remaining three quarters.

“We knew had to come in here strong and finish strong,” Williams said. “Walking into this gym, all of us just had adrenaline waiting to be released. So it feels good because we knew it was important to Coach Diehl.”

A Williams basket and Jessica Wilson’s 3-pointer put Howland ahead 20-14 about three minutes into the second quarter.

Ahead 31-26 at halftime, the Tigers scored the next nine points for a double-digit advantage they kept until the final two minutes.

“The girls did a real nice job of being patient and passing the ball around against their zone until Taylor was able to seal whoever was guarding her,” Diehl said.

Senior Kendal Malsch led the Cardinals (4-6, 0-1) with 14 points. Junior Cally Wollet scored 11 and senior guard Jillian Halfhill, a Bowling Green recruit, scored nine.

“Jessica Wilson’s defense on Halfhill was our key,” Diehl said of the Tigers’ defense. “This is a big win because we haven’t won down here since December 2000 when Angela Cape was a senior.”

Nites said the Tigers were challenged because the Cardinals “defend their house well. For us to win here is really big.”

Trailing 58-41, the Cardinals engineered their own spurt in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 straight points that included 3-pointers by Halfhill and Wollet.

“We recognize that we can’t slow down and let other teams get on runs just because we’re [way] ahead,” Williams said of a lesson learned. “In another big game, that could come back to haunt us.”

After last year’s undefeated regular season, Williams said repeating as league champions is a challenge.

“We have a lot to live up,” Williams said. “This game was important because Canfield constantly comes out with a great team.”

williams@vindy.com