43
Canfield comes alive late vs. Fitch
Gallery
By Greg Gulas
CANFIELD
Spencer Woolley scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the second half and Ethan Kalina added all 10 of his points after intermission to pace the Canfield Cardinals to a 56-47 decision over Austintown Fitch in All-American Conference, Red Division action Tuesday at the James W. Watkins Gymnasium.
The win kept the Cardinals (3-1, 2-0) undefeated in league play while the Falcons (0-4, 0-2) remain winless.
“Last year we won on their court and they won on our court, but the goal tonight was not to give them their first win of the season on our court. We know we’re a good second-half team so we want to keep the game close at the half,” Woolley said. “We had a two-point lead tonight at the break and were able to pull away in the second half. Tonight, I thought that we pushed the ball really well and in the second half, felt as if we were a little more aggressive than they were.”
A nip and tuck first quarter had the Cardinals holding an 8-7 lead after the first eight minutes of play.
Four points by Woolley and triples by Brandon McFall and Ian McGraw in the second period staked Canfield to a 19-17 advantage at the break.
While the Cardinals might have been the aggressors in the second half, the Falcons wreaked havoc on the Canfield offense all-night as they forced 18 Cardinals turnovers and picked off seven of their errant passes.
“I told coach [Brian] Beany prior to the game that he played some good teams and I respect his Falcons teams because they always play hard,” Canfield coach Todd Muckleroy said. “We had too many turnovers tonight and that was a little disappointing. We’re young and getting older with each game that we play. The one thing that we have to figure out is how play with the lead, so we’ll look at the film and definitely learn from tonight’s game.”
A triple by Ethan Kalina and a bucket by Woolley to start the third quarter stretched the Canfield lead to 24-17, but a bucket from beyond the arc by the Falcons’ Randy Smith at 2:53 of the period cut the Canfield lead to 30-26.
The Cardinals closed with an 8-5 run as they built a 38-31 margin heading to the final period of play.
A Woolley lay-up at 6:40 of the final frame extended the Canfield lead to 45-34, but a Dylan Beany put back off Larry Harrington’s missed free throw cut the deficit to 50-45 with 1:11 remaining.
Canfield’s Jake Cummings said that the Falcons just keep coming the entire game.
“We’re friends with one another and know that Fitch is going to play hard the entire game,” Cummings said. “They play tough. We play tough and tonight it was just great to get our first win of the season at home.”
The Cardinals closed the game on a 6-2 run with all points coming at the charity stripe.
“This team plays very hard and I told them after the game how proud I was and appreciative of their effort,” Falcons coach Brian Beany said. “We’ve made great strides from our first game to now but in the end, basketball is still a game where you have to put the ball in the hoop. Our effort is keeping us in the game but when you have an open shot and opportunity, you still have to convert.”
Beany scored 13 points and Harrington added 10 more for the Falcons while Canfield converted 12 of their 16 shots from the charity strip in the final quarter to seal the victory.