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Canfield surges past Poland
By Brandon Judeh
CANFIELD
With 5:25 remaining, Canfield High girls basketball coach Pat Pavlansky called a timeout after Poland had taken the lead.
The result was a 10-2 run for the Cardinals as they squeaked by the Bulldogs, 44-37, on Thursday night.
“During that timeout we talked about defense,” Pavlansky said. “I told them to spread to the weak side, help out on drives to the basket and be there to avoid the screens.
“Our girls did a great job of containing a tough Poland team in the last five minutes.”
Sabrina Mangapora, who averages 20.3 points and 8.6 rebounds for the Cardinals (11-6, 6-3 All-American Conference American Division), had another monster outing. She led all scorers with 21 points, eight from the foul line, and had a game-high 11 rebounds. In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs (9-8, 4-6) double teamed Mangapora and then grabbed a 35-34 lead.
That was then freshman Rachel Tinkey’s time to shine.
“It’s huge to have teammates like Rachel, especially in situations like that when they start to double team me,” Mangapora said. ”I know someone is open so I looked for Tinkey and she came up big for us.”
Mangapora said that she feels her team has grown closer together over the course of the season and knows that the team they have now is a much better, more experienced group.
Tinkey scored eight of her 10 points in the final period, including a stretch that saw her score six in a row.
With the clock nearing one minute, she came up big on the defensive end by stealing the ball and getting fouled. That led to two free throws that iced the game .
“I have great teammates, all the older players that surround me really take the pressure off of me and allow me to relax and step up in big situations like tonight,” Tinkey said.
It was a sluggish start to the game as each of their first two possessions resulted in turnovers as they combined for only 13 first-quarter points.
In the second quarter, Mangapora displayed her talent in the post and from behind the arc, proving she is one of the areas best all-around players.
Mangapora scores seven points in the quarter and hit a big 3-pointer that gave her team a 21-19 edge at the half.
Poland kept the game close in the third quarter, led by senior Maura Bobby’s 18-point outing, but it was Canfield’s 2-3 zone defense and their ability to rotate to the shooter that kept the ulldogs at bay.
“Poland does a nice job of spreading teams out; as the game went on we did a much better job of staying in front of them when they wanted to drive and keeping a hand up when they wanted to shoot,” Pavlansky said. “We accomplished what we set out to do,”