Canfield makes history by sweeping Spartans

January 19, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

BOARDMAN

Prior to Tuesday’s game with Boardman High, Canfield coach Pat Pavlansky made it a point to let his team know that no Cardinals girls basketball team had ever beaten the Spartans twice in the same season.

It took 35 seasons and while the two teams didn’t always meet twice during the same campaign, the Cardinals can finally say they swept the season series from their Route 224 hoop rivals.

Sabrina Mangapora scored a game-high 20 points and the Cardinals’ defense held the Spartans to just three points in both the second and third periods en route to a 50-32 win at the Boardman Gymnasium.

They also defeated the Spartans at home back on Dec. 15; 60-50.

“Coach [Pavlansky] gave us all the inspiration we needed, Mangapora said. “That is why this win is so special for us.”

Mangapora said an early-season loss to Struthers, in which Canfield let a late lead slip away, helped the Cardinals grow.

“That loss helped us to grow as a team because we all realized right then and there that nothing is given to you,” she said. “You get what you earn and must continue to work hard if you expect to come out on top.”

Canfield (9-3) raced to the early 7-3 lead on a bucket by Cally Wollet at the 5:28 mark of the opening period.

Brooke Meenchan and Allison Borts then combined to score 12 of the Spartans’ final 13 points of the quarter as Boardman forged a 16-12 advantage heading to the second stanza.

Three buckets by Mangapora and five points by Allie Pavlansky, plus a stingy Cardinals defense which held the Spartans to just a bucket and a free throw helped Canfield build a 25-19 halftime advantage.

The Canfield defense remained impenetrable in the third quarter as they once again held the Spartans to a bucket and a free throw, outscoring Boardman (3-7) by a 9-3 count for a 34-22 lead heading to the final eight minutes of play.

“We’re a combination of youth and veterans so you can see why as a staff we are very proud of how this team has come along since our first few games,” Pavlansky said. “Boardman plays hard every night and we had to step it up defensively the final three quarters in order to have a shot tonight.

“The truth is Boardman is the only team this season that has been able to stop Cally [Wollet] and they’ve now done it twice. To still put 50 points up offensively and then hold them to just 32, you can see that everyone had a hand and contributed to this win.”

Eight points by Mangapora and four by Abby Baker then rounded out the scoring as the Cardinals closed the game with a 16-10 for their fifth consecutive win and their fifth win in six road outings.

Boardman’s Kayleigh Lipke was the only other Spartans’ player in double figures with 11.

Baker had 10 for the Cardinals.