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Canfield passes road test at Fitch
By Greg Gulas
AUSTINTOWN
Julian Vitto scored Canfield’s final four points from the foul line, Mason Mangapora added 12 points and Austintown Fitch’s final shot of the game fell short as the Cardinals defeated the Falcons, 48-47 in All-American Conference, Red Tier action Tuesday night..
It marked the fourth consecutive win for the Cardinals (7-2, 3-1) as they improved to 4-1 on the road.
“When it comes to shooting free throws, I try not to think about it and just pretend that it’s only practice,” Vitto said.
The game featured six ties and 11 lead changes, the last tie at 44 when Anthony Pangio’s bucket with 3:45 remaining helped Fitch (3-4, 1-3) erase a four-point deficit.
Two free throws by Vitto gave the Cardinals a 46-44 lead at the 2:17 mark while two more charity tosses increased their lead to 48-44 with 42 seconds remaining.
A conventional three-point play by Pangio 12 seconds later made it 48-47, but the Falcons’ last-second shot fell short.
“Julian made some key shots at the end of the game, but he also drove the lane well and that’s something we haven’t seen from him to this point of the season,’ Canfield head coach Todd Muckleroy added. “He knew exactly what needed to get done, and his aggressiveness at point guard was great to see as well.”
Dom DiFrancesco, who scored seven of his 14 points in the opening quarter, helped Fitch to a 13-11 lead after the first eight minutes.
Eight points by Mangapora and a triple by Vince Ferrier in the second period enabled the Cardinals to forge a 26-25 halftime advantage.
“Austintown Fitch is super aggressive on the boards, so all week in practice we did plenty of rebounding drills in order to get ready,” Mangapora said. “The key at the end tonight was locking down and just limiting their shot opportunities.”
Mangapora’s bucket at 6:28 of the third period gave Canfield a 30-28 lead as the Cardinals outscored the Falcons in the quarter, 8-7 as they built a 34-32 margin with eight minutes remaining.
Fitch head coach Brian Beany said failing to finish scoring opportunities was costly.
“[Canfield] slowed the pace of the game and that was definitely in their favor. We had a lot of opportunities that we just weren’t able to finish and it hurt us in the end,” Beany said. “This is a senior-oriented group that will come back stronger. We’ll look to fix a few things, continue to execute and finish our looks and opportunities.”