Recap: East Canton 83, Garfield 62 (Or, You Say Garretsville, I Say Garfield)

The Hornets overpowered Garfield in just about every aspect of the game. That is what you might expect when an undefeated team goes up against winless team. Bradley appeared to have an extra gear last night, whipping in and out of the defense on a whim. He ended with an unusual line for a point guard. 6 points, 8 assists and 12 rebounds is atypical for a pg to say the least, but that's what Hornet fans have come to expect from the 5'10" senior. He added a new dimension to his game last night. After pounding a Garfield 3-point attempt into the padded wall, he may consider himself a bonafide shot blocker.

The combination of Smith, Campbell and Slater controlled the glass and finished a majority of their opportunities on the inside. It almost appeared to be boys going up against men. Smith led East Canton with his season high in points, 25. It was quite 25 and he probably only played half of the game. I saw multiple people look over the stat sheet and and say, "Smith had 25??"

Burfield did his usual "invisible man" thing for a half. He had 19 points, including 5 3-pointers, during the first 16 minutes. Then, almost as if he purposely decided to, stepped out of the spotlight and allowed other members of the Hornets to take over. I'm growing tired of Burfield's constant flirtation with the schools three point record for a single game. After tying the record against Mogadore, he teased us once again last night with his hot start, only to leave us wanting more.

The JV team came up short last night, losing to Garfield, 37-46. Shultz led the Mini Hornets with 9 points.

Bits of Randomness
In the first quarter, Garfield decided to turn air conditioner on in the middle of a Cartwright free throw. The gust of air blew the ball off to the left, resulting in an air ball. We know an exceptional shooter would not miss a free throw that badly without a freak occurrence like like the air conditioner catching the ball mid-stream.

Burfield and Smith combined for 38 first half points. Garfield's entire team combined for 25 first half points.

The free throw bug came back last night. 3-9 from the stripe is not going to get it done against better opponents.

East Canton @ Malvern tonight. Battle of the Hornets!! Bzzzzzzz

Box Score
http://www.cantonrep.com/highschool/x196132473/High-school-boys-basketball-box-scores-for-Feb-12

Recap: East Canton 77, Garfield 62 (Or, That Could Have Gone A Lot Better)

Overview: After an even first half, East Canton's superior athleticism and talent prevailed over Garfield in the second.

Summary: The value of Josh Smith has never been more clear. Nursing a sore ankle, Smith was held out of Saturday night's contest. It seemed that East Canton couldn't get the loose balls they normally do. They couldn't get the offensive rebounds they normally do. They didn't finish on the baseline as well as they normally do. I attribute a lot of this to Smith's absence.

Slater stepped into the starting lineup with Smith out. He made the most of his start with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Burfield matched Slater's output with 21 of his own. The two combined for 19 points in the decisive 3rd quarter. Cartwright had 4 assists (team high) to go with his 12 points. The leading scorer off the bench was Campbell with 12.

Holding a 3 point lead at half, the Hornets came out for the third and methodically wore down Garfield, slowly growing the lead bit by bit. It got up to around 20 and East Canton was able to cruise to the finish. Still, the game has to be considered a let down. Granted, it was was third game of the week and Smith was out but the Hornets didn't play like an undefeated team or a state ranked team.


The JV got a nice come from behind win to move their record to 5-5. In the 53-43 victory, Pennell scored 20, Shultz 12 and Taylor 11.

Things I Think I Think
I think the question that arose at Mogadore of “who's going to tackle #20” was answered last night. At the far side of the court, a scramble for a loose ball led to a Slater/Bradley collision. As to who got the better of it, I'm not sure Slater is aware he was in collision

I think the student section picked a good theme. The white out was full of energy and fun to watch. I'm surprised to see that the numbers for the student section were down from the opening home game. In contrast, attendance as whole seems to be increasing.

I think Slater is more effective playing with an undershirt. T-shirt Slater is scoring 14ppg, up 6 points from his non-T average

A Free-Press article recapping the Hornets last 3 games. They even referred to us as the Wizards
http://www.the-press-news.com/news/slideshow/4752176
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Rep Box Score
http://www.cantonrep.com/highschool/x1560345180/High-school-boys-basketball-box-scores-for-Jan-16

Rep Results
http://www.cantonrep.com/highschool/x1301081493/High-school-boys-basketball-report-for-Jan-16