Canfield falls to defending state champs

March 4, 2011 at 12:06a.m.

By JOSH REILLY

ALLIANCE

The Canfield Cardinals fell to defending state champ Canton McKinley, 62-21, in a Division I girls basketball district semifinal at Alliance High School on Thursday.

From the beginning, the Bulldogs defense took the contest over.

When Canfield took its first shot — a two-point bucket by Abby Baker — McKinley already had 16 points on the scoreboard.

“That was absolutely the best defensive performance I have ever seen,” Cardinal coach Pat Pavlansky said. “If there is a better team [than McKinley] in the state, I’d like to see them.”

Canfield (15-6) turned the ball over on its first 12 possessions without recording a shot attempt. Baker’s score came with 1:06 left in the first quarter — or nearly seven minutes after the opening tip.

Pavlansky even used two timeouts before his team made an attempt; that’s how smothering the McKinley squad was.

“It wasn’t all us,” Pavlansky said. “It was them [the Bulldogs] being excellent. That team is special. It has all the parts.”

McKinley added another run in the second quarter — a 10-point streak — to open up a 26-2 advantage over the Cardinals.

In the third quarter, Canfield came out more composed as four players contributed to a 10-point period.

“We were more aggressive,” Pavlansky said. “We saw things better and handled the pressure better.

“You talk about 10 points in the quarter being a success, but we’re a team that scores 55 points per game. That just shows how good McKinley is.”

Baker finished with four points as the Cardinals’ leading scorer while Cally Wollet and Allie Pavlansky chipped in with three each.

Canfield ended up with 28 turnovers and only 23 field goal attempts, further illustrating the Bulldogs’ dominance.

“It’s incredible how determined they [the Bulldogs] are to prevent you from even crossing mid-court,” Pat Pavlansky added.

Ameryst Alston and Marquia Turner were McKinley’s top scorers, finishing with 15 points apiece. Aaliyah Dotson added 11 points and Laneisha Lennon contributed 10 for the Bulldogs, who earned their 54th consecutive victory.

“The first half, defensively, was a thing of beauty,” said McKinley coach Pam Davis, a graduate of Austintown Fitch.

“We made some adjustments from the first time we played [a 67-42 McKinley win on Jan. 26] and it paid off.”

McKinley advances to the district championship game on Saturday at 1 p.m., against North Canton Hoover.

Hoover defeated Louisville, 64-46, in Thursday’s first semifinal.