Wollet’s 25 points lead Canfield

By Tom Williams

williams@vindy.com

POLAND

Coming off Monday’s 43-point loss to Howland, the Poland High girls basketball team responded with an inspired first half against archrival Canfield.

But the Cardinals were essentially flawless in the third quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 21-4 en route to Thursday’s 55-25 victory.

Leading the way was senior guard Cally Wollet who scored 25 points and had three rebounds for Canfield (6-3, 1-1 All-American Conference Red Tier).

“They played very strong in the first half,” said Wollet of the Bulldogs (7-4, 1-2). “In the second half, we played smarter, more aggressively.

“We really wanted to win this because we knew we had to in order to go for the AAC crown,” Wollet said.

Wollet scored 14 points in the second half as the Cards surged.

“Cally is one of the hardest workers I have ever coached,” Canfield coach Pat Pavlansky said. “Cally is in [the gym] in the morning before school, she stays after [practice], she’s the first one out to shoot, she’s the last one to go home.

“She has a passion for this game and she’s getting better and better,” Pavlansky said. “Everybody knows that Cally can shoot the 3, but tonight she really took the ball to the hoop strong.

Wollet’s 10 baskets included a pair of 3-pointers.

“Basketball means a lot to me, I just love playing,” Wollet said. “I put a lot of time into my shot, not just for me. It helps the team because it draws [defenders] out on me so others get open.”

Canfield’s other seniors — Kaitlin Kaleel and Kellie Kesner — contributed nine and seven points, respectively. Sophomore post player Sabrina Mangapora scored six points.

Sarah Vrabel’s basket at the end of the first quarter gave the Cards a 14-10 lead.

The Bulldogs responded with a 7-2 run to start the second quarter, with Adriana Sikora scoring three points, Alyssa Shields making a basket and Abbie Frank sinking two free throws for a 17-16 lead.

A basket and free throw by Wollet and a free throw by Kesner put the Cards ahead for good. “In the first half, we thought they played well,” Pavlansky said. “We thought we came of age in the second half, a 35-8 shot is pretty good.”

Maura Bobby led the Bulldogs with seven points. Shields finished with five.

“I have no problem with how we played,” Poland coach Nick Blanch said.

“We played hard but we gave up some offensive rebounds in the second half that hurt us.,” Blanch said. ”You can’t give Canfield second shots.”