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Sammarone leads Canfield over West Branch
By Tom Williams
CANFIELD
Coming off a tough three-point loss at New Philadelphia, the last thing the Canfield girls basketball team wanted was a sluggish start.
But against West Branch on Wednesday, the Cardinals couldn’t find the bucket for more than five minutes. Then sophomore guard Serena Sammarone ignited, scoring seven points in about 60 seconds.
Sammarone had another seven-point streak to open the second half, helping the Cards roll to a 42-25 victory.
“Sometimes it’s tough for me to remember that she’s a sophomore and she’s still learning all the time,” Canfield coach Matt Reel said. “She had probably one of her worst games ever at New Philly.
“I knew she would be better,” Reel said. “She really gave us a spark and control of the game.”
Sammarone finished with 19 points and four steals. Three of them she converted into layups.
Trailing 6-0, Sammarone hit a jump shot and scored on a drive. Then she hit a 3-pointer, giving the Cards the lead for keeps.
“Amazing, especially when your whole team is supporting you,” is how Sammarone said she felt as her confidence surged. “We [were coming] off a rough game, but we all knew we couldn’t pout or anything. We just had to keep going.”
The Cardinals (1-1) outscored the Warriors (1-1) 11-5 in the second quarter and 15-8 in the third.
“We rushed a few shots early, then started to get some better ones,” Reel said. “Even when shots weren’t going, we kept up our intensity and I thought we did a really nice job inside against their size.
“And I thought we frustrated their guards a little bit.”
The Warriors, who graduated five players last June, finished 8-for-60 shooting. Coach Walt DeShields said his players might have become “a little comfortable” after Saturday’s 60-28 win over Ravenna.
“Sometimes when you get an easy one, you might start to think they’re going to be easy all the time,” DeShields said. “It’s not — every night is a challenge.
“Early on, we lost a lot of confidence in our shooting — not bad shots, we just didn’t make them. We didn’t get up on the glass and some of them just rattled in and out. Then we started to panic and started taking bad shots.”
Brenna Rito led the Warriors with nine points and Natalie Zuchowski pulled down 15 rebounds.
Sammarone said she expected the Cards to play well defensively.
“I didn’t think 25 points was a possibility, but I knew we’d play well,” Sammaorne said. “That’s what we’re mainly about — defense.”
Brittany Coonce grabbed six rebounds and blocked two shots.
“Brittany Coonce stepped up for us and Jill Baker did a phenomenal job guarding,” Reel said. “Xandra [Alexandra Stanic], our other senior with Coonce, is kind of like a mother on the court. She’s not flashy but she makes sure everyone is in the right spot.”
Coonce scored 10 points while Baker had eight.
“West Branch is going to win a lot of games,” Reel said. “I know they are going to shoot the ball better all year and I hope we do, too.”