Fitch rallies for team’s third win

January 28, 2017 at 12:09a.m.

By BROOKE MEENACHAN

AUSTINTOWN

Canfield vs Fitch

Energy and effort — those were the words written on the Canfield (8-7, 5-3) boys basketball team’s dry erase board heading into Friday’s All-American Conference Red matchup against Austintown Fitch (3-11, 2-6).

You could see the words on the board, but they didn’t translate to the floor. In fact, they should have been written on Fitch’s board with the way the Falcons came to play.

Fitch’s energy and effort resulted in a 66-47 upset over the Cardinals.

The feat marked the Falcons’ first home win and third win of the season.

“I’ve been proud of the guys all year long,” Fitch coach Brian Beany said. “Their attitudes have been great.

“They work at it,” Beany said. “They play hard. I kept telling them, ‘you keep doing that, good things are going to happen. You just gotta stay positive and stay with it’ and that’s what they’ve done.”

Canfield had a 32-30 advantage to start the second half, but couldn’t continue its momentum with the Falcons stepping up their full-court pressure.

Fitch went on a 11-4 run to start the third quarter.

“When we go a small lineup like that, we got a lot of athletic kids out there,” Beany said. “If we can get a steal out of it, great, but if we can speed the other team up a little bit that’s our goal. We’re trying to make them work.”

Fitch held the Cardinals to 15 points in the second half, while scoring 36.

Beany’s son, Dylan, led the Falcons’ offense with 21 points, 14 of which came in the second half.

“I’m hard on him, probably harder on him than anybody else, but he just finds a way to score,” Brian Beany said.

While most kids couldn’t fathom the idea of playing for one of their parents, Dylan thinks the opposite.

“I think it’s fun,” Dylan Beany said. “I like it. He’s rough on me at practice, but that’s expected. I enjoy it.”

Kole Klasic added 17 points to the mix, including five 3-pointers.

“Kudos to Fitch there,” Canfield coach Todd Muckleroy said.

“They were hitting their shots. We were struggling to do some things defensively and staying in front of them, which caused them to get open looks.”

Muckleroy blamed the Cardinals’ defense for their lack of offense as well.

“Our defense kind of fell victim,” Muckleroy said. “Unfortunately, it compounded to the offensive end where we couldn’t do anything there. So, if you can’t defend and you can’t do anything offensively, you’re going to struggle as a team,” Muckleroy said.

Canfield struggled at the line as well, hitting 4-13.

Even with the lack of any offensive threat, the Cardinals still managed to put up points.

Jared Clark paced the way with 15 points and Brandon McFall added 12 markers.

Fitch next faces the number-one team in the AAC Red Tier, Warren Harding, on Tuesday. They are hoping to use the Canfield win as motivation.

The Cardinals have their own problems to worry about.

“We’re a team in trouble right now,” Muckleroy said.

“I don’t think there’s enough trust on this team. We’re thinking about things in other games and that’s what’s causing the wheels to fall off.”

But Muckleroy said hopes his team can find a few spares.

“You always have to challenge them to the point where you’re saying, ‘Hey this is about dealing with adversity and if you can come out on the winning end of it and salvage some bright spots out of the season then you can feel proud in a team that can pull themselves up,’” he said.