43
Hunter, Fitch hold off Canfield
By BOB ETTINGER
CANFIELD
Dan Schnurrenberger described to the Austintown Fitch girls basketball team what he calls winning plays. Faced with Canfield charging hard on the comeback trail, the Falcons learned what the definition of that term is for themselves as they held on for a 65-64 victory Saturday night.
“I told the girls in the locker room after the game they made winning plays,” Schnurrenberger said. “Sometimes, that’s not just putting the ball in the hoop. It’s rebounding, tipping the ball to a teammate or getting an offensive rebound. The girls made enough winning plays to win that game.”
Sabria Hunter provided the final points with a put-back while being fouled with 1:11 left in the fourth quarter to give the Falcons (8-3, 2-0 All-American Red Tier) a 65-60 edge.
“I had the mentality that I wanted to win the game,” Hunter said. “The team had fought so hard, I was trying to do my best for them because they deserve the best from me.”
That’s the default setting for Hunter, who led all scorers with 27 points.
“She never stops fighting for the ball,” Schnurrenberger said. “Every ball that bounces on the rim she believes is her basketball, whether it’s on offense or defense. That’s hard to teach. She has a motor and, obviously, that motor paid off tonight.”
Serena Sammarone’s two free throws had the Cardinals (9-3, 1-1 in AAC Red Tier) within three, 65-62, with 60 seconds on the clock. Following a pair of missed free throws by the Falcons, Sammarone struck again on a drive to the basket to get Canfield within one, 65-64, with 28 seconds remaining.
Fitch turned the ball over on the inbounds play, but while setting up for one final play, the Cardinals were whistled for an offensive foul and turned the ball back over with eight seconds to play.
“Daria [Williams] made an awesome play,” Hunter said. “She was playing defense and there was an offensive screen. Coach talks about winning plays. That was a winning play and we owe her for that. It was a great play on her end.”
The Falcons missed both ends of the double bonus and Marissa Ieraci rebounded for the Cardinals on the baseline with nowhere to go. Mia Jackson poked the ball away with Hunter right there bottling up Ieraci as time ran out.
“[Hunter] is a great player and made a great play (the putback) at a crucial time for them,” Canfield coach Matt Reel said. “That’s about all there is to say.”
The Falcons took a 38-30 lead into the locker room at the intermission following a 3-pointer from Hunter with 47 seconds in the half and an off-balance buzzer-beating triple from Jada Lazaro.
“[Lazaro’s 3-pointer] and Sabria banked in a deep three in the last minute (of the half) gave them a lot of energy going in at the half,” Reel said. “They had good looks and sometimes they go in. That was a huge boost for them.”
Grace Mangapora started the Cardinals on their comeback with a bucket with 2:29 left in the third and Sammarone then connected on a 3-pointer and tallied on a layup with seven seconds left in the eriod as Canfield was within five, 50-45, to start the fourth.
Lazaro added 14 points, Taylor Fronk 11 and Williams added 10.
Sammarone’s 24 points paced the Cardinals while Gianna Flask knocked down six 3-pointers, three in the fourth quarter, and finished with 20 points.
“Gianna Flask is one of the better shooters we’ve had here,” Reel said. “She stepped up big and made some shots tonight.”