Matt Yourstowsky helps Canfield stun Poland

January 14, 2012 at 12:09a.m.

CANFIELD

This biggest shot of Friday’s game developed slowly, with Canfield winding the ball around Poland’s zone like a shopper waiting for a parking spot to open up on Black Friday.

For close to 60 seconds, Canfield senior Matt Yourstowsky stood outside the 3-point line on the left wing, getting ready for his moment. His fingertips were still sparking from his five previous 3-pointers but with a one-point deficit, the Cardinals didn’t need to hurry.

Finally, with about 40 seconds left, Canfield found an opening. Senior Kyle Brown, arguably the game’s MVP to that point, got good post position deep inside the Bulldog defense. He caught the ball and as the Bulldog defense collapsed, he fired it back out to the top of the key to an open Marco DeLorenzo, who immediately passed to Yourstowsky, who had a clear look.

Everyone in the gym knew what was going to happen next.

“Marco trusted me,” Yourstowsky said. “He had a wide-open 3 but he knew I was on fire.

“I got the ball, calm and collected, and knocked it down.”

Biggest shot of his career?

“Oh, it’s up there, no doubt,” he said. “No doubt.”

Canfield guard Conner Kesner followed with a steal, Will Yobi split a pair of free throws with 32 seconds left and Poland missed three straight 3-pointers — the last on a wide-open look at the buzzer — to finish off the Cardinals’ 51-48 come-from-behind victory.

“I feel like I got kicked in the stomach,” said Bulldogs coach Ken Grisdale. “By a mule.”

The game started perfectly for Poland as it forced turnovers on eight of Canfield’s first nine possessions to race out to a 13-3 lead. While the Cardinals battled back to make it a four-point game at halftime, Poland still led by as many as 12 midway through the third quarter.

But over the game’s final 12 minutes, the Bulldogs made just 2 of 9 shots and committed eight turnovers. Yourstowsky, meanwhile, scored 14 of his points over that stretch, including two long-range 3s at the end of the third quarter.

“Our team does not give up, no matter how bad we’re down,” Yourstowsky said. “That’s why they play the game. Anything can happen.”

Yourstowsky finished with 22 points and DeLorenzo had 10 for the Cardinals (5-6, 2-3 All-American Conference American Division), who finished with more 3s (11) than 2s (seven). Brown, meanwhile, grabbed 13 of Canfield’s 28 rebounds and added seven points.

“We fought to give ourselves a chance,” said Canfield coach Todd Muckleroy. “We got close in the fourth quarter and our shooting kind of saved us.

“When it comes down to it, you’ve got to get the ball to your shooters and you’ve got to make shots.”

Eddie Moore scored 16 points and Colin Reardon added 13 points and six rebounds for Poland (5-4, 3-3), which saw its four-game winning streak snapped.

“We had an idea of where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do and for moments tonight, we saw it,” Grisdale said. “We’re still figuring some things out.

“We’ve dealt with some bumps early, but we’ll get over them.”

The Cardinals, meanwhile, got a big boost, both in the standings and between their ears.

“Psyche-wise, this gives us a lot of confidence,” Muckleroy said. “We’re at the stage of the season where it’s important to gain some momentum, regardless of whether it’s against a Poland or whoever.”