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Canfield’s four-minute salvo stuns Girard
Canfield’s four-minute salvo stuns Girard
CANFIELD
Todd Muckleroy turned around and smiled at the Canfield fans behind him and gave a gentle pump of a fist after his Cardinals beat Girard, 53-42, to clinch a Division II sectional championship Friday night.
By comparison, the Canfield coach’s gesture didn’t expend as much energy as the acrobatic backflips of his team’s school cheerleaders during timeouts, nor the effort of his players when they jumped on Girard early to seize enough of a lead to carry the top-seeded Cardinals (17-6) into a district semifinal against Ursuline.
“We felt the first four minutes were very important because you’re walking into a tough environment on their own floor and them being the No. 1 seed,” Girard coach Craig Hannon said.
“So you’re really fighting through that and the first four minutes felt like everything went their way,” he said of his team’s 14-2 deficit after the first period. “They did a good job of jumping on us and we just didn’t do enough to execute and find a way to alleviate some of that pain they were putting on us. Unfortunately, that set the stage for the margin the rest of the way.”
Mason Mangapora had a game-high 23 points and Sam DiGiacomo had 14 of 30 rebounds for Canfield, which, despite hitting just one of eight 3-point goals in the first half, made 12 of 17 of its other shots.
Girard’s Mark Standohar had a team-high 14 points, but the Indians (14-10) made just five goals in the first half, including four of 19 two-pointers and one of seven from long range. Six-four Darrian Tiggett had seven points.and 12 rebounds for the Indians.
“I was happy about them getting only two points in the first quarter,” said DiGiacomo, Canfield’s 6-7 senior who, along with Mangapora, was a pillar in the paint. “I think that was something our guys really took a lot of pride in,” DiGiacomo said. “They were missing shots, but I think we were doing a pretty nice job defensively, and making sure we were getting out on shooters and making it tough for their big guys to shoot on the interior.”
DiGiacomo said he knew that Girard would exert a little more pressure when the third quarter began. “For the most part,” he said, “I think we did a good job against a really aggressive team. We knew they were playing Division III for a long time, but there’s no doubt they belong in Division II. They’re a pretty gritty team, so hats off to coach Hannon and his staff because they were ready to play.”
Muckleroy addressed Canfield’s next opponent on Wednesday night.
“They’re [Ursuline] another team [like Girard] that has moved up from Division III and they probably have a little bit of a chip on their shoulder to come and play us on a neutral site [Boardman High], so we’re going to see what both teams are made of. We have a lot of respect for the Irish as well [as Girard], and they are a solid team and have had a lot of good postseason runs. But in order to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. That’s what we’re taking into this next game.”
Girard’s last two seasons ended with losses to Ursuline in Division III district finals and Canfield’s 2014-15 postseason came to an end at the hands of Poland, 42-36, in a Division II district final at Warren Harding’s gym.
Although both Canfield and Girard have scrimmaged numerous times, neither Muckleroy nor Hannon could recall a game between the two teams in recent years.
Girard starter Mike Guyer had a scoreless first half, then finished with four points, while Julian Berry came off the bench to add six points.
“He’s usually the biggest kid on the floor and, once he got adjusted to that, he did a pretty good job,” Hannon said of Guyer. “I though we did a pretty good job inside making some good moves, but some didn’t fall. So I thought we made a nice adjustment in the second half and found a way to score.”
In summarizing the season, Hannon said, “I’m pleasantly surprised and I mean that in the best way because these kids gave me everything they had. We started 2-5 and end up winning 14 games and played well near the end of the season. We really improved and I’m very happy with where we ended up.”