Lakeview outlasts Canfield girls in OT

January 21, 2016 at 12:10a.m.

By BRIAN DZENIS

CANFIELD

Lakeview is the top dog in the All-American Conference, but it earned that title after nearly letting it slip away.

The Bulldogs squandered a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, but came together in overtime to beat Canfield, 56-49.

Lakeview (16-1, 9-0) ruined Canfield’s (12-4, 8-1) perfect start to conference play and the pieces were all there for the Bulldogs to run away with the game. Canfield lost its tallest player, 5-foot-9 junior Brittany Coonce, to a knee injury three minutes into the game. The lack of size allowed Lakeview’s Annie Pavlansky and Addie Becker to beat up the Cardinals inside. Canfield came out flat in the second half, scoring just four points in the third quarter to fall behind by 16 heading into the fourth quarter.

But all that meant nothing in a matter of minutes.

“We knew Canfield would make a run, we’ve seen them do it a few times this year,” Lakeview coach Adam Lewis said. “We wanted to offset that and it just didn’t happen. It was frustrating seeing that lead just kind of go away.”

Canfield’s Marissa Donchess scored her first points of the contest with three consecutive 3-pointers to open the fourth quarter. That sparked a 21-5 Cardinals run, with Ashley Kaleel’s corner 3 forcing overtime with seven seconds left in regulation.

“We had to just shake it off and move on to the next play,” Pavlansky said of the Bulldogs’ fourth-quarter collapse. “We couldn’t dwell on what happened in the past and in overtime, it was 0-0 and it’s anybody’s game.”

The two sides traded baskets to open the extra period. After Becker’s two free throws put the Bulldogs up by two, Pavlansky stole the ball from the Cardinals near the top of the key. She raced across midcourt to put the dagger in Canfield’s comeback with 1:25 left in OT.

“We needed a defensive stop and I anticipated the pass,” Pavlansky said. “I knew I was gone the moment I had the ball.”

The sophomore forward scored a team-high 20 points and Becker, a senior, added 18. Pavlansky also grabbed 15 rebounds.

“Once [Coonce] went down, we did our best to get [the ball] to Addie and I. We had a mismatch.” Pavlansky said.

Becker scored Lakeview’s final three points, while the Cardinals never recovered from Pavlansky’s steal and didn’t score again. Canfield coach Matt Reel said that without the tallest player on his roster, Canfield had to play to its strengths — mainly its speed — to get back in the game and it finally clicked in the fourth quarter.

“The fourth quarter pace was more to our liking. We tried to make it a rat race and I was proud of how the girls responded,” Reel said. “It wasn’t looking good there and I think we did a nice job fighting back and we never stopped believing.

“We told them this is a game they can really grow from.”

Kaleel led the Cardinals with 16 points and Alexandra Stanic added 10. After an overtime loss to Howland in late November, the Bulldogs have won 13 in a row.

“This team is very balanced,” Lewis said. “They’re very selfless in how they play the game.”