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Howland pulls away in 2nd half at Canfield
By BRANDON JUDEH
CANFIELD
It was a tale of two halves for the Howland girls basketball team as the Tigers defeated All-American Conference rival Canfield, 59-41, on Saturday night.
The Cardinals (8-5, 4-2 AAC) came out flying as they jumped out to a 14-10 lead with 6-foot-1 junior Sabrina Mangapora scoring eight first-quarter points.
That is when Howland’s 6-3 center, Taylor Williams, stepped up her game.
“[Mangapora is] a great player, but when you are facing someone that good you have to adjust to what they’re doing. I saw her strong spot was pulling up for the jumper so I knew I had to get my hands up quicker and adjust defensively,” Williams said.
Williams, who will be attending Princeton University, held Mangapora to only two points the rest of the game. Williams scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high 12 boards and blocked three shots.
In the first half, Williams was called for a technical foul, but that only seemed to fire up her and the Tigers (12-1, 5-0) .
What came next was the most intense 10 seconds of the game as Canfields Rachel Tinkey hit a shot and was fouled. After knocking down her free throw Howland got the ball to one of their senior leaders, Olivia Nicholas, and she hit a 25-foot shot at the buzzer that swung the momentum in the Tigers favor.
Canfield led 24-22 at the break.
“That shot really got us going, we came out a little slow and we needed something like that to happen,” Nicholas said. “We knew, though, that we needed to make some adjustments in the second half if we wanted to win this game.”
The Tigers came out roaring and never looked back.
“We challenged Taylor a little bit tonight she usually helps defensively for us, but I told her she needed to stay out on Mangapora and keep a hand in her face. She did a really nice job,” said Diehl.
Howland came out with a full court press, which lead to a 15-2 run. The Cardinals were not able to adjust as they were outscored 23-7 in the third period.
By the middle of the fourth quarter Howland built an 18-point lead, which was their biggest of the night.
Nicholas was a key factor in helping her team pull away. She scored 13-points and added six rebounds and five assists. Teammates Erika Nites and Paige Loychik chipped in with 15 and 17 points, respectively.
Though it was a tough second half for Mangapora, she finished with 10 points, five rebounds and four steals. Senior Sarah Vrabel also scored 10 points and added five boards for the Cardinals.
Howland is now in the driver’s seat in the AAC but Diehl knows there is still plenty of basketball to play before anything is decided.
“We play Poland next and they have a great record and then we play Struthers who only has one loss is going to be a big challenge and it may all come down to that game,” he said.