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Canfield pulls away to rout Salem
Crogan scores 20 as Cardinals use 9-0 third-quarter run to advance to sectional final against Ursuline
By ERIC FORTUNE
CANFIELD
Much of what didn’t work in the regular season seemed to come together for the Canfield boys basketball team in a 74-47 victory over Salem in a Division II sectional semifinal Tuesday night,
The ball was constantly moving and perimeter shots were falling as fifth-seeded Canfield used a 9-0 run to build a 17-point lead midway through the third quarter.
“I think in that third quarter, we just came out and made some shots and got some easy looks,” Canfield coach Todd Muckleroy said. “We hit some long-distance shots which really helped us. Those aren’t the shots we normally make, but it opened us up and allowed us to get some interior shots as well.
“It’s been one of those things that we’ve struggled with, being able to move it, finding that next guy, and just make that defense move a little bit. Things will be a lot easier for you if you can.”
Connor Crogan led the Cardinals (12-11) with a game-high 20 points, Joe Bruno had 16 with Kyle Gamble 11.
Up that third-quarter run, the Quakers (7-16) stayed close thanks to Trey Double, who scored the first 11 points for Salem. He finished with 17.
“We were prepared for what they were going to do,” Salem coach Jeff Andres said.
“For a good portion of the game, we did a good job of attacking the rim. That was our goal — get the ball to the rack versus their press because they gave us some fits at times.”
The Cardinals got the game out to 10 in the second quarter only to see Salem close out the half on a 8-3 run.
That momentum seemed to carry over into the third quarter when Josh Young’s 3 made it 28-26 early. After trading baskets, Bruno’s 3 ignited Canfield’s decisive run.
“I thought there was a stretch there in the third quarter where we were settling for jumpers instead of attacking the rim,” Andres said.
“They went on that run and we just couldn’t recover from that point.”
Canfield shot nine of 16 from the field, including four 3s, in the third and built out a 51-40 lead.
“In the second half, we felt we needed to be more assertive,” Muckleroy said.
“We wanted to get the ball to the rim. I felt their zone was really putting us on our heels. We were settling too much. Once we started to get into attack mode and started to stretch that zone defense that made them come out in man-to-man which helped us even more.”
Canfield closed the game with a 23-7 run in the fourth.
“We knew coming in that Young and Double were going to be their guys,” Muckleroy said.
“They were going to hurt us. They’re just good players. They made some shots and that frustrated our guys just a little bit. We tried to settle down and win the war of attrition of the course of the game.”
Canfield will visit fourth-seeded Ursuline in a sectional final at 7 p.m. Friday.