Strong second half powers Canfield past Struthers

By Steve Wilaj

sports@vindy.com

STRUTHERS

Canfield, with its size and quickness advantage, knew its pressure could rattle Struthers and force the Wildcats off their game. But after two quarters of basketball on Friday, the Cardinals were still waiting.

“We’d hoped it would be a little sooner, but it finally got to them in the third and fourth quarters,” Canfield coach Todd Muckleroy said. “We started locking down and defending a little more and that’s gonna put us in good positions to extend leads.”

Canfield did just that, extending its eight-point halftime advantage to 19 points heading into the fourth quarter, paving the way to a 69-46 win at the Struthers Field House.

“Our offense was scoring but it was just our defense,” Cardinals point guard Cole Pryjma said. “We were giving up open shots. But we just have to come out with more energy.”

After leading 31-23 at the half, Canfield used a 23-12 third quarter to separate itself from the Wildcats. The Cardinals (14-3, 8-2) also outscored Struthers 15-11 in the fourth quarter.

“We came out and couldn’t hit a shot [in the third],” said Joe Savko, Wildcats coach. “So we start to get flustered a bit when we’re not making shots. You just panic a little bit and all of a sudden you’re tight and you can’t make one.”

Struthers (4-10) shot just 5 of 27 from behind the arc, as its top shooter, Austin Yemma, went 0 of 8 on 3s.

“We miss a few shots, they get a few steals or long rebounds and a couple of easy layups and that gets them the lead,” Savko said.

Jarret Vrabel scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Brady Clark added 12 points while Pryjma paced Canfield with 20 points

“I’ve had a rough few games lately and haven’t been scoring much,” Pryjma said. “I wanted to drive and get us to the hole and get a chance to get some free throws down.”

The senior finished 6 of 9 from the field, including 8 of 11 at the foul line, while playing in the city where much of his family resides.

“I love playing at Struthers,” Pryjma said. “I’m from here and my whole family still lives here basically. I know a lot of people and have friends here, so it means a lot. It just gets me in a different mood.”

Ray’Quan Phifer led the Wildcats with 15 points and five boards, while Todd Wilkos scored 13 points as well.

“I think we played hard tonight but didn’t always do the right thing while we were playing hard,” Savko said. “We played just as hard as them, but didn’t make the smart plays at the right time.”