Canfield Cardinals unable to beat height disparity

February 26, 2016 at 12:10a.m.

By Marty Gitlin

Akron

The nearly identical records of the Division I girls district final combatants promised a close game.

Sometimes, promises really are meant to be broken.

The close game between Canfield and Stow-Munroe Falls lasted a bit more than one quarter. The Bulldogs dominated thereafter in cruising to Thursday’s 56-40 victory over the top seed at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.

The Bulldogs captured their first regional appearance since 2007 when they fell in the state championship.

The Cardinals (15-10) were simply outplayed in every facet of the game. The perimeter defense executed by Stow caused turnovers and prevented passes inside and consistent penetration.

And when Canfield did work the ball close to the basket, the Bulldogs used their height to cause hesitation and missed shots. Stow (16-10) boasted three starters taller than any Cardinals counterpart.

“We tried to spread them out and we were looking for penetration,” Canfield coach Matt Reel said. “We were a little stagnant and they did a lot of sagging on us and took away our penetration.

“There’s no substitute for height in basketball and we’re height challenged.”

The result was that Canfield was out-rebounded 29-14 and surrendered plenty of points off put-backs and passes under the hoop to standout Stow senior Jessie Stout.

Stout led the Bulldogs with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Tough perimeter and inside defense resulted in 13-for-42 (31 percent) shooting for the Cardinals, including 2-for-11 in the decisive fourth quarter.

Canfield required far greater accuracy to threaten the Bulldogs, who erased all doubt after a bank shot by senior guard Jill Baker had cut their lead to 36-29.

Lizzie Stefanov, one of three freshman starters for Stow, hit a 3-pointer to make it 42-31 with 5:40 remaining and her team never looked back.

Ashley Kaleel, the Canfield senior who was the leading scorer this season, was blanked for three quarters.

Kaleel nailed one from beyond the arc to cut their deficit to 44-36, but that fell into the category of too little, too late.

The game started like it might remain close. Stow missed several bunnies to allow Canfield to forge a 10-10 tie after the first quarter.

But Bulldogs sophomore Theresa Parr emerged from the bench to score three baskets in the second, keying a run that gave her team momentum it would maintain the rest of the way.

Senior guard Marissa Donchess scored 11 of the Cardinals’ first 17 points to keep them alive, but was shut out in the second half, which began with Stow ahead, 26-19.

Canfield came out after intermission with visible intensity, but found no greater success as Stow stretched its lead to 34-24.

Soon the Bulldogs were cutting down the nets at LeBron James Arena. “They were just the better team tonight,” Reel said.