Crogan, Gamble lead Canfield over Fitch in AAC Red Tier

January 27, 2018 at 12:07a.m.

CANFIELD

It was “Senior Night” for the Canfield boys basketball team, but a pair of juniors’ stars shone brightest Friday night.

Conor Crogan scored 10 points, Kyle Gamble added nine and the Cardinals’ defense held Austintown Fitch to just 10 first-half points — a mere two points in the second quarter — as Canfield defeated the Falcons 50-31 in an All-American Conference, Red Tier game.

“It’s a great feeling to win, especially with this being a league game. All I wanted to do was help out my teammates any way that I could,” Crogan said. “We came out a little slow, so my goal was to give us a spark and hopefully get us going.”

The team honored nine senior players prior to the game. The Canfield seniors are a group Crogan called great leaders.

“Our seniors are an unselfish group that picked us up all season long,” Crogan added. “If you were down, they were there to pick you up. We love them and they love us.”

Four points each by Tyler Dobrindt and Ethan Kalina staked Canfield (9-4, 5-1 AAC Red Tier) to a 17-8 lead after the opening period.

When the Falcons (6-7, 3-4) couldn’t find the hoop in the second frame, the Cardinals were able to open a 27-10 halftime advantage.

“If you told me before the game that we would hold Canfield to just 50 points, and both [Zach] Tinkey and [Ian] McGraw under 10, I would have felt very comfortable with that,” Falcons head coach Brian Beany said. “Both teams struggled to score and while we didn’t hit a 3, Canfield had just two buckets from beyond the arc. The name of the game is to put the ball in the hoop and tonight we failed to do that.”

Four points by Crogan helped Canfield open a 36-21 lead after three periods.

The Falcons’ Randy Smith then scored eight of his game-high 13 points in the final eight minutes, but it was too little, too late as the Cardinals swept the season series from their conference foes.

Canfield coach Todd Muckleroy praised his seniors.

“There’s only one word to describe this group and that is special,” he said. “They’ve been at this since April, have gone over every game they’ve played together and are hungry for the next challenge. They’re just very special.”