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Canfield storms back from 18-0 deficit to stun Boardman
Canfield storms back from
18-0 deficit to stun Boardman
By Greg Gulas
CANFIELD
The Boardman Spartans are only three games into their season, but the one thing that head coach Pat Birch has stressed to them is to start faster — not just the game but the quarters and halves as well.
On Tuesday, his Spartans responded by scoring the first 18 points of their contest with Canfield, holding the Cardinals scoreless through the first 9:35 of the game.
But it didn’t last.
The Cardinals refused to go away as they scored 36 of the game’s final 50 points, coming back from that 18-point, first-half deficit to defeat the Spartans, 36-32 in All-American Conference, Red Tier action at James M. Watkins Gymnasium.
Sam DiGiacomo had a team-high 10 points and Mason Mangapora added nine. Julian Vitto’s 3-pointer with 2:53 remaining gave Canfield (3-1, 2-0 AAC; Red Tier) its first lead.
“I just try to get the best shot that I can every time I touch the ball, knowing full well that if I miss, we have two big guys underneath in Sam and Mason ready to rebound,” Vitto said. “When we were down by 18 to start the game, coach [Todd Muckleroy] told us not to panic, not to turn the ball over, play solid defense and put everything we had on the court. We played like that and took it one possession at a time.”
Six points by Gannon Murray and five more from John Ryan in the opening frame staked the Spartans (1-2, 0-2 AAC; Red Tier) to a 13-0 advantage at the quarter. Ryan’s 3-pointer made it 18-0 69 seconds into the second quarter.
A conventional three-point play by Mangapora broke the Canfield scoring draught as the Cardinals finally got on the board at the 6:25 mark.
Mangapora added five more points in the quarter while the Cardinals closed on a 12-4 run to trail just 22-12 at the intermission.
“We came out really, really slow tonight and needed to get our nerves together,” Mangapora said. “At the half, coach Muckleroy told us not to underestimate Boardman because they are an excellent team.
“Down 18 to start the game, we knew that we had to step it up and our defense did just that. We held them to a 10-point second half and that was the key. We won and we’ll take it, but it wasn’t exactly pretty.”
Five points by Vince Ferrier and a stingy Cardinals defense that held Boardman to just five points helped Canfield cut the Spartans lead to 27-21 with eight minutes remaining.
A Ferrier hoop followed by a Mangapora bucket to start the final quarter allowed Canfield to cut the Spartans’ lead to 27-25, but Coleman Stauffer’s basket at 4:39 stretched the Boardman lead back to four points, 29-25.
After Vitto’s bucket gave Canfield their first lead of the game at 32-30, Murray followed with a drive to the bucket to knot the game for the only time with 2:40 remaining.
Mangapora then gave the Cardinals the lead for good with 35 seconds remaining at 34-32, adding an insurance basket with 13 seconds left as they secured the win in their home opener.
“This was a good character win for us. It was our first home game and we were nervous, but credit Boardman because they are a good team and we really respect them,” Muckleroy said. “We’ve had some adversity in the early going so maybe we can get it going now. I’m really happy for our guys because they never gave up.”
For Birch, it was a game that simply slipped away.
“This one hurt. It’s the best we’ve played to start a game and then the well just went dry,” he said. “We had great looks, just couldn’t knock our shots down.”