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Risner helps Canfield upset Fitch
Photo
Canfield’s Lynnae Whitehead looks to shoot over Fitch’s Cassier Custer (15) and Sarah Melfe (12) in a Division I sectional final Thursday at Fitch High School in Austintown. The Cardinals downed the Falcons, 53-45.
Risner helps Cardinals
down Falcons
By Steve WILAJ
AUSTINTOWN
Cheers reverberated from inside the visitor’s locker room at Austintown Fitch High School.
Chants and yells rang through the brick walls, echoing to the large group of fans gathered in the gymnasium. And the Canfield celebration didn’t let up, lasting for a good 10 minutes after coach Pat Pavlansky exited the room.
Who could blame the Cardinals?
With a gritty and gutsy performance, eighth-seeded Canfield upset fifth-seeded Fitch, 53-45, on Thursday night in a Division I sectional final. It was the first time in three tries this season that the Cardinals defeated the Falcons, handing Fitch just its second loss.
“It just feels so good because no one expected us to win,” said Canfield forward Erin Risner. “But we finally pulled one out against them because we played like we know we can. It’s a great feeling.”
With the victory, the Cardinals (15-8) advance to play Green at 7 p.m. Monday at Walsh University. Green beat Kent Roosevelt, 61-37, on Thursday night.
However, Pavlansky admitted they’ll first focus on celebrating this one.
“We played to win tonight — not to be close — and you saw that from the beginning to the end,” he said. “We didn’t delay the game — we went to go score. And things didn’t always work out, but we came here to win tonight.”
Canfield’s game plan certainly worked in the second quarter, which is when it took control of the contest.
After a 9-8 first-quarter advantage, the Cardinals outscored Fitch 19-12 in the second period. This was keyed by a 12-2 run to open the quarter, capped by a Rachel Tinkey 3-pointer that extended the lead to 21-10.
“We had a lot of poise,” said Risner, who finished with a team-high 18 points. “We ran through our plays, really looked for each other and played as a team.”
With an 8-0 third quarter run led by Megan Sefcik — who scored a game-high 21 points — the Falcons (21-2) cut the deficit to 38-34 going into the final period. But that’s as close as Fitch, which shot 37 percent from the field, could get.
“It just wasn’t our night,” Falcons coach Stacie Cepin said. “Give credit to Canfield and coach Pavs. His kids made big shots and we just struggled so much knocking down shots that we normally make. I’m so proud how my kids battled back and had no quit in them, but time just ran out.”
A Sefcik 3-poinrer narrowed the score to 48-43 with 1:39 remaining, but layups by Tinkey and Risner with under a minute remaining closed the curtains on the Falcons.
Cassie Custer added 11 points for Fitch.
“It’s a tough loss because this group of seniors is very special to me,” Cepin said. “I’ve seen them for five years and we did special things this year. They’ve changed the look of this program.”
Canfield shot 51 percent from the floor and — along with Risner’s strong night — received 14 points apiece from Lynnae Whitehead and Tinkey.
“To be able to finish it off on the road against a team like Fitch is wonderful,” Pavlansky said. “We stayed calm [and] took that lead in the second quarter and never gave it back, which was huge. We were always able to find that big basket tonight when we needed it.”