Howland avenges loss to Canfield
By JOHN BASETTI
HOWLAND
Howland’s 5-foot-4 senior Victoria Rappach drove full-bore up the gut through Canfield defenders in the paint to snap a 62-62 tie with 20.5 seconds remaining in overtime as the home team prevailed, 64-62, Saturday in an All-American Conference Red Tier girls basketball battle.
Following a 58-58 regulation deadlock, Howland’s production of six points came in the last 2:36 of the four-minute overtime and was equally shared by junior Samarra Caffey, sophomore Mackenzie Maze and Rappach.
It topped Canfield’s OT output of four by Ashley Kaleel. The 5-5 Kaleel, a senior, actually sank the first two throws of overtime at 3:03, but a lane violation nullified her second attempt. Kaleel’s three-point goal with less than a minute remaining tied the game at 62-all before Rappach’s game-winning drive.
On Howland’s final attempt with the score tied, Coach John Diehl switched the positions of Sara Price and Rappach on the press-break.
“That was kind of the play because I switched Sara and Victoria on the press-break and Victoria got the ball and broke it [Canfield’s press], then just drove the coast and layed it in.”
The win over Canfield (12-5, 8-1 Red) was payback for a 54-50 loss to the Cardinals in December. This time, Canfield was minus Brittany Coonce, who sustained a knee injury in an overtime loss to Lakeview on Jan. 20.
“She wasn’t able to go tonight,” Canfield coach Matt Reel said. “We’re still not sure of the extent of the injury, but we’re hoping for the best.”
Coonce had been averaging nine points and nine rebounds. In Coonce’s absence, Reel modified his lineup to include seniors Megan Heagerty and Heather Haley, among others.
Diehl explained why Rappach was highly motivated.
“She drove more tonight than maybe she’s driven in her whole career,” Howland’s 22-year head coach said. “She’s never beaten Canfield, so she was really motivated to win this game.”
Canfield trailed by 17 points at halftime, then made a monumental effort to tie the game for the first time when feisty freshman Serena Sammarone’s layup with 55 seconds remaining in regulation knotted the score at 58-all.
Reel didn’t agree that the free throw nullification in overtime was a factor in his team’s loss.
“There’s a million things in this game that could have made a difference,” said Reel, the Cardinals’ second-year coach. “It was so back-and-forth, especially the second half. We thought we lost the game because we didn’t come out like we’re used to in the first half.
Price had a game-high 27 points for the Tigers (12-5, 7-1).
Kaleel had 20 for Canfield.
Price also had 12 of the Tigers’ 32 rebounds, while Marissa Donchess grabbed nine of Canfield’s 28 rebounds.
Rappach added 16 points for the winners, while Sammarone and Alexandra Stanic had 13 and 10 points, respectively, for the visitors.
Howland starter Izzy Albrecht had only two points, but dished out three of her team’s seven assists.