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Strong second half paces Struthers
CANFIELD
Canfield High boys basketball coach Todd Muckleroy knew there had to be a change from the last time his team faced Struthers. The Cardinals lost that Dec. 16 game, 52-43. This time around, he wanted to take control early.
For the most part, Canfield did.
“We knew the pace of the game had to be a little bit slower,” Muckleroy said. “They kind of pushed the tempo and got up on us pretty easily, last time. The pace was in our favor, this time.”
The final score wasn’t.
Thanks to a 16-7 run to start the third quarter, Struthers pulled away again for a 52-47 win.
At halftime, the Wildcats were up just 18-17. Then, it was Struthers coach Joe Savko’s turn to make some adjustments.
“We made a few shots early in the second half and that got us some energy,” Savko said. “We didn’t have that in the first half. We were just going through the motions, while Canfield was running their sets the way they wanted and were sticking it to us.”
Dylan Schmidt had the hot hand in the third when he was 3-for-3 from behind the arc. He finished with 13 points.
“It felt great,” Schmidt said. “I knew I had to do something for the team because I really didn’t shoot it well in the first half.”
Struthers’ biggest lead — seven — came midway through the third when Jake Jacubec stole an errant Canfield pass and took it coast-to-coast for an uncontested lay-up making it, 31-24.
“We really fed off that fast start to the second half and never looked back,” Jacubec said.
Only problem, the Cardinals were looking forward.
A Conner Kesner jumper tied it at 40 with 5:34 left in regulation. But the Wildcats scored on their next five possessions and found themselves up 50-45 with one minutes, 25 seconds remaining.
Kyle Brown’s turnaround lay-up in traffic closed it to three and Canfield got the ball back trailing 50-47 with 20 seconds to go.
Matt Yourstowsky attempted a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left — it fell short. Marco DeLorenzo was able to track down a loose ball and fell to the ground. He tried to call time out but was tangled up with a Struthers defender resulting in a jump-ball call.
The possession arrow — and the last few ticks of the James W. Watkins Memorial Gymnasium clock — favored the Wildcats.
“When you’re down like that, my philosophy is not to hold for the last shot,” Muckleroy said. “If you miss a shot, you certainly have the opportunity to foul. And, if you miss and get a rebound, you get another try at it. We did have to foul after that and the game got away from us.”
Jacubec, Schmidt and Jordan Sapp all hit free throws down the stretch for Struthers (12-3, 7-0 All-American Conference American Division). Sapp finished with nine points while Jacubec had a game-high 20 points to go with six assists, three steals and even a block.
A Baldwin-Wallace scout in attendance said Jacubec is “the perfect piece we need.”
Muckleroy said, “His decision making goes beyond his shooting and we know he can make any shot. He does it all on the floor.”
The biggest compliments, though, come from his teammates.
“There’s times where we might not even think we’re open, but he can still find us,” Schmidt said. “His court vision is great.”
Off the bench, Tommy Kimborough had seven points for Struthers that all came in the fourth quarter.
Canfield (7-9, 3-5) was led by Brown with 15 points and Will Yobi added 11.