Staff photo / Dan Hiner. Girard’s Braxton Sloan (5) drives to the basket for a layup during the first half of a game against Campbell during the United Way’s Holiday Basketball Classic on Saturday at Poland Field House/
POLAND — It was a special Saturday night for Girard boys basketball coach Nick Canterino.
His Indians were on the right side of a 55-34 victory over Campbell, where he spent the last several years as the head coach. It also marked his 100th career win.
“It was really cool, it happening versus Campbell,” Canterino said. “I spent a lot of years there, still teaching out there. A lot of talk these last couple weeks between me and the kids. A lot of fun back and forth, but just special getting to celebrate with the administration there and at Girard. Just very proud of that support. A very special day today.”
Girard began the game by converting turnovers into points. The Indians’ aggressiveness led to five fouls, but they also led 13-6 by the end of the first quarter.
The Red Devils got a little more out of their offense in the second, but they still couldn’t make a dent as Girard took a 22-15 lead into halftime.
Girard started the third quarter on a 7-0 run after forcing a couple more turnovers.
The Indians’ press caused problems for the Red Devils while trying to get the ball in. It led to several quick baskets, but when Campbell broke the press, they had some success in the halfcourt.
But a Campbell foul as time expired on the third put Cam Herrick at the free-throw line for three attempts. That helped the Indians take a 39-29 lead into the fourth.
Forced turnovers and offensive rebounds helped Girard to an 8-0 run. And midway through the fourth, the Indians started swinging the ball around the halfcourt to work the clock and find a good shot.
The Red Devils were without a field goal in the fourth until the 2:23 mark.
“We work on (press defense) every day. We tried to get up and down, so our guys are used to it,” Canterino said. “I know (the Red Devils) do it a little bit, but when you got pressure in your face then you get down seven or eight points, you got a little added pressure on you.
“I think what really turned the game was we had two in a row. We stole it, we got two layups and I think it pushed the lead to 12 or 14. We never really looked back after that.”
Braxton Sloan led all scorers with 20 points for Girard. He scored 11 of the Indians’ 17 points in the third.
“He’s relentless,” Canterino said of Sloan. “He got into some foul trouble early, which sat him on the bench for a good portion of that first half. You got a lot of players that might just be offensive or defensive, but he plays just as hard offensively as he does defensively. Our guys really feed off of it.”
Herrick finished with 11 points to assist Sloan offensively.
DJ Lambert, Janalan Johnson and Bobby Ramirez each scored seven for Campbell.
CANFIELD 67, POLAND 41 (BOYS)
Canfield earned its ninth straight win over their Route 224 rival Poland.
In the first quarter, Canfield forced the Bulldogs to fight for every shot opportunity.
Poland’s possessions were long, and when they made a mistake, the Cardinals tried to capitalize. That approach gave the Cardinals a 10-5 lead at the end of the first.
Canfield continued to make Poland work on the offensive end, and the Cardinals eventually grew their lead to 25-8 with just over two minutes until halftime.
Poland’s offense finally found a rhythm in the third, but the Bulldogs couldn’t stop the Cardinals.
Canfield scored 25 points in the third to extend its lead to 50-24 going into the fourth quarter.
“Dylan O’Hara, our defensive coordinator, put together a great plan. The only thing better was our execution,” Canfield head coach Andy Vlajkovich said. “Those guys went out there and were absolutely locked in on responsibility, every assignment. I’d like to take credit for that, but can’t.”
The Cardinal lead grew to 60-31 with less than four minutes to play. After the media timeout, the two teams cleared their benches.
Landon Shina was the top scorer for the Cardinals with 14 points. Joey Gabriel chipped in 13 points, and Jace Riccardo finished with 12 points.
Carmine Tukalo led the Bulldogs with 15 points, and Nick Nittolo added eight points.
Poland will look to snap the drought against Canfield on Dec. 30 at Canfield High School. The Bulldogs haven’t picked up a win in the rivalry since a 70-62 victory on Dec. 29, 2021 in Canfield.
“Poland-Canfield has been going on for so long, teams have run into buzzsaws sometimes. That’s been us as of late,” Poland head coach Eric Fender said. “For us, hopefully we’re better prepared. We’ll have four days next time to prepare for them, go over some things.”
AUSTINTOWN FITCH 59, BOARDMAN 43 (BOYS)
Fitch got things going offensively early. The Falcons began the game on a 12-0 run.
The Spartans didn’t get on the board until Vince Butto hit a three with 2:32 to play in the first quarter.
The Falcons led 19-6 at the end of the first, but the Spartans battled back.
A pair of 3-pointers by Boardman cut the Fitch lead to 19-12. But a steal led to a dunk by E.J. Giles slowed the Spartans’ momentum.
However, it didn’t stop Boardman.
The Spartans sank a couple more threes and cut the deficit to 29-23 by halftime.
Fitch came out strong to start the third. The Falcons outscored Boardman 13-7 in the first five minutes.
It was a byproduct of their post defense. The size of Giles and the rest of the forwards made life difficult on the Spartans when they tried to work toward the basket. That forced Boardman to have to live off the 3-point shot.
“I thought our guys did a pretty good job of responding,” Austintown Fitch coach Brian Beany said. “Kept that comfortable distance from the middle of the third till the end of the game.
“Proud of the guys. Thought our effort was fantastic, they bring it each and every game. It isn’t pretty at times — we have a lot to work on still — but if you don’t have the effort to start, you’re in trouble from the get-go.”
The Falcons kept the pressure on the Spartans and began to pull away until Fitch cleared its bench in the final couple of minutes.
“We knew we just had to keep doing what we’re doing and make those threes a little more contested,” Beany said. “We didn’t do a very good job at times containing the basketball and they’d kick out to an open guy. Give them credit for making it, but we never panicked, stayed with what we were doing and executed on our end.”
Giles scored a game-high 18 points. Junie Higgs finished with 12 points and Braedan Sallee ended his night with 11.
Brayden Bulkley led Boardman with 12 points, and Butto tallied nine points.
POLAND 65, STRUTHERS 35 (GIRLS)
Both teams found success in the first quarter as the teams traded baskets. Poland held a 16-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
However, the defenses regained some control in the second quarter, with neither team scoring for the first couple minutes.
Poland’s defense started to suffocate the Wildcats, forcing Struthers into turnovers. That defensive effort allowed the Bulldogs to outscore their conference rival 10-5 in the second and take a 26-19 lead into the locker room.
The Bulldogs continued to dominate on the defensive end in the beginning of the third. They forced a tie-up and three turnovers to kick off a 21-2 run to start the quarter.
Poland held a 56-23 lead going into the fourth quarter.
“I just think they settled down,” Poland coach Nick Blanch said of his team’s defensive performance. “When you put in TV cameras and stuff like that, it brings in a little bit more of a different vibe into the gym. The girls get a little nervous.
“We’ve been doing this since this event started. Every year, it still brings a little bit of jitters, and I just think it took a little bit.”
Natalie Wolikow scored a team-high 14 points for the Wildcats.
Seven of the 11 girls who saw playing time for the Bulldogs were underclassmen, including four freshmen.
Poland freshman Brielle Rowe led all scorers with 23 points, and classmate Brooklyn Kasco finished with 18 points.
“You gotta understand, when freshmen play, that means there are older kids that aren’t. That’s a tough pill to swallow for some,” Blanch said. “I give credit to everybody. I think our leadership is doing a good job accepting these young kids and understanding they make us better.
“Some of our older kids have a different role than they probably like, but at the end of the day, we’re all seeing what the bigger picture is here.”