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Canfield, Austintown — D1 and done
ALLIANCE
Two Mahoning Valley teams got bounced from the Division I tournament Tuesday night at Alliance High School, with Canfield falling to Canton GlenOak, 71-36, and Austintown Fitch eliminated by Green, 63-52.
“The first four points we had were on free throws, so, I was happy I was that we went perfect from the line [4 for 4], but I guess that you’d like to have a couple more field goals under your belt early to try to get some momentum and try to get a little confidence,” Canfield coach Todd Muckleroy said of not getting a field goal until Connor Kesner did it at 6:12 of the second quarter.
“That may have made the game a little bit different, but they [GlenOak] were making shots and we were missing shots,” Muckleroy said. “That’s tough to try to bounce back on a team that, despite a below-.500 record, it’s a Federal League team and they’re Federal League-strong and Federal league-quick and they have some nice players who can put the ball in the basket.
“They lost some close games this year, so don’t be too deceived by their record,” Muckleroy said of GlenOak’s 8-13 record. “For the most part, we were prepared, but when shots don’t fall that can be a difficult situation.”
Canfield (8-13) were 14 of 21 at the foul line, but 10 of 35 from the field. The Cards were also out-rebounded, 39-19.
“Offensively, when you’re coming down the floor and getting one shot and done, you’re not extending your possession,” Muckleroy said. “You need to make those little bunnies that you can get off of offensive rebounds.
“If you’re not shooting the ball well, it’s going to be tough to bounce back from that.”
Muckleroy will lose three seniors: Will Yobi, Kyle Brown and Matt Yourstowsky. “They weren’t starters last year,” the Canfield coach said. “Kyle has become a force inside, even though he didn’t show it tonight; Matt Yourstowsky was a guy who we kind of rode on his back as far as shooting the ball and Will is just a great decision-maker. A lot of the things he [Yobi] does doesn’t necessarily show up on the stats, but he’s such a smart player and understands the game so well.”
After the second game, Fitch coach Brian Beany said that Green was, by far, the most physical team it faced all year.
“We had a hard time getting to the hoop on them a little bit. I think they took us out of a lot of the things we wanted to do, whether it was a type of set or a continuous offense. They did a good job getting up tight on us and forcing us away from the middle of the key.
Beany said that his Falcons, who were 17 of 53 from the field to Green’s 20 of 32, had some looks in the first half that didn’t fall.
“In the third quarter, they made a run and we were down by 12 but our kids didn’t quit.”
Fitch cut the deficit to four before Green’s free throws kept the cushion.
“Evan Kesslar and Andy Pratt are two, three-year starters for us, so this time in their senior year you expect them to play well,” Green coach Mike Kinsley said of Kesslar, who had 19 points and Pratt, who had 15 points.
The difference,” Kinsley said, “especially starting the third quarter was when David Lebo’s defense on Will Mahone really frustrated him. I thought that allowed us to get out to that 10-point lead. I thought that was a big key.”