Recap: East Canton 75, Minerva 62 (Or, Total Team Effort Tames Lions)

Read this real journalism before my pseudo-journalism

http://www.cantonrep.com/highschool/x1715241139/East-Canton-moves-to-18-0-tops-Minerva

The Hornets started slow, letting Minerva get up 14-4. East Canton appeared shell-shocked and Minerva looked poised to make things very difficult for the Hornets. East Canton got bucket and then received a favorable out of bounds call on the Minerva end. On the ensuing possession, Burfield got fouled on a drive with :37 left in the first quarter. Coach Locke from Minerva was livid. He received a technical foul but I had no idea what he said to earn it. This gave Burfield 4 free throws and East Canton got the ball back. On the final possession of the quarter, a stalled play led to Stu Campbell 3-pointer. He drained it to make the score 14-13 still in Minerva's favor. This three also drained any thoughts Minerva faithful might have had that we weren't the team people had been telling them we were.


East Canton took their first lead of game with 6:00 remaining in the second period, 18-17. The two teams battled back and forth. East Canton got up as many as 6, but Ryker Locke 3-pointer from the volleyball line cut the lead to 3. East Canton got another bucket to to send the score into half at 28-23. The Hornets outscored Minerva by 6 in the 2nd quarter.


The third quarter, like it usually is for basketball games, was the make or break quarter. Minerva looked as if they had used up a lot of their fight, and East Canton pounced. The Hornets pushed their lead up to 34-25. A Minerva press was bothering the Hornets until Burfield hit Bradley on the fly for a touchdown. Wait, this is basketball. So he didn't get a touchdown but he did get an and-1, only after displaying footwork that would make the "Dancing With the Stars" judges applaud on his spin move. Bradley netted the free throw to push the Hornet lead to twelve, 37-25.

An extra-curricular forearm shiver by Minerva's Dulaney sent Bradley down to the ground after the whistle. A technical foul was assessed and outcries from Minerva coaches and parents were heard loud and clear. They thought Bradley was faking the impact. I even heard a Minerva coach say, "even the East Canton AD says he flops."


Elseser had a golden stretch of play in the 3rd. A steal led to a beautiful pull up 12-footer in transition. A rare shot for a high school player to have the confidence to even attempt, let alone drain it. A few plays later he made an Hakeem Olajuwon post move for another score.

Burfield had a lay-up fest at the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th, finally pushing the lead out past 10-12. With a significant lead, the Hornets pulled the ball out in the 4th to eat some time off the clock and wait for a quality shot. This was effective only because Bradley and Cartwright were absolutely unshakable handling the ball. Minerva was flying all over the court, trapping, pressuring and fouling.
Never did they waver.

Minerva's Locke led the game in scoring with 23. Burfield led the Hornets with 21 points. Slater added 17 points, scoring 7 points in the 2nd and 4th quarters. Smith scored 10 points and had 7 rebounds. Campbell added 7 and Elseser had 7 too. 6 of Elsesers 7 came in the 3rd quarter. Battista added 12 for Minerva. I know he didn't shoot well last night but I like this kids game. A soft touch, over-head release and a competent mid-range game.

Bradley's 8 points and 7 assists don't seem like much, but he has become a true game changer. Opponents are sometimes able to counter balance certain things that we do well. They take away our rebounding edge with big boys of their own or have 3-point shooters to match ours. One thing they have never been able to counter balance is Bradley. Granted, it's not always pretty to watch or result in the perfect box score but the kid gets it done. Passing, rebounding, leadership, speed, ball-handling and so on.

The JV took a pounding from Minerva, 17-54. Pennell and Shultz tied for the scoring lead with 4 points a piece.

East Canton: The New Press Darlings

http://www.cantonrep.com/highschool/x228089684/East-Cantons-Spurgeon-will-wait-for-talk

Recap: East Canton 73, Malvern 56 (Or, EC Wins Battle of the Hornets; Should Consider Challenging the New Orleans Hornets)

The Rep was all over this match up

http://www.cantonrep.com/sports/x1631830483/East-Canton-boys-thwack-Malvern-to-stay-perfect

Things Of Note
Cartwright hit 7 3-pointers in the first half. I enjoyed watching the progression of anger from Malvern's coach as they just kept coming. The first two 3-pointers, he was OK with, encouraging his team. On the third one, it became apparent he was getting irritated. With 6:30 to go in the second quarter, Joe decided swish shooting was too easy for him and he would try banking three's. The ball banked in and Coach Tucci at Malvern cocked his foot back like his was going to kick the bench (not really a bench, more of a collection of chairs), but decided to relax his force, sparing the chair from bending like Beckham. Joe then hit his 5th three a minute later at the 5:30 mark. His 6th at the 4:00 minute mark. And his 7th at the 1:23 mark. By the 7th 3-pointer, Tucci's jacket was flying up against the wall and he was screaming at the kids. With 2.3 seconds remaining in the half, Joe tried to get another three off but was fouled. Tucci was belligerent on this play, embarrassing his own son for fouling. Coach Tucci was in luck though. The free throw line was too close for Joe. He only made 1 out of the 3 attempts. The next half Joe only shot a couple of 3s. He didn't try to force shots that weren't there and went back to looking for his teammates. Would anyone who knows Joe expect him to do anything else? He is as selfless as they come. It could not be more obvious from reading the article the Rep wrote. How many kids would have taken the opportunity to self-gloss after a performance like that? There is no way to tell but the percentage it would happen from a kid on this team is far below average. And the chance Joe Cartwright would is absolutely zero.

In the first half, East Canton was 10/20 on 3-pointers. They had made 10 3-pointers and 3 2-pointers. Malvern had taken only 1 3-pointer and made it, 1/1. This differential in 3s is staggering but not as staggering as the foul situation. With 2:40 to go in the 2nd quarter, East Canton had committed 7 fouls to Malvern's 1. Then, at the 1:30 mark of the 3rd quarter, East Canton had already committed 7 fouls to Malvern's 2.

Hornet fans have the fever, and the only prescription is more East Canton Basketball. The ever prescient fans showed up early to get their seat. 30 minutes before the JV game and the visitor section was filling up rapidly. The gym was packed by the end of the JV game and people were watching the game in cafeteria on closed circuit TV. The East Canton fans were loud, louder than the other 2/3 of the fans. The student section made sure Malvern knew they lost with a powerful chant in the 4th quarter and had no mercy when Malvern's JV kids botched an outlet pass in the varsity game, chanting "fun-da-mentals." And the environment should only get crazier from here on out.

Bradley may have a career in politics when his basketball days are through. He was lobbying extremely hard for Burfield to let him shoot the technical free throws in the 4th quarter. Burfield didn't give in, but made only 1 of the 2. Our scorekeeper was quick to point out the excess quarters played. A kid can only play 5 quarters combined between JV and varsity on any given night. Both the home and away books showed that he played in all 4 JV quarters and 2 varsity quarters. Tucci threw a fit. First, he tried to get his scorekeeper to change how it was marked in the home book. Then, he tried arguing with the refs about it. And finally, when all his options were exhausted, he just threw the book over his head like a child, striking the scorekeeper in the head. I heard the scorekeeper claim he was quitting because of the disrespect by Tucci. He claimed he had been keeping the book for 52 years there. What a shame.

Tucci, a few minutes later, having not been able to draw attention to himself awhile, sparked a substitution war. He put his younger guys in with East Canton holding a 16 point lead. Coach Spurgeon was completely oblivious to this and left his main guys in. Tucci then subbed his starters back in an effort to make Coach Spurgeon look like he was being unmerciful. When people explained to Spurgeon the substitution war that he didn't even know he was in, he put all his younger kids in, and Tucci did too.

The stat breakdown for the East Canton: Points - Cartwright 27, Burfield 18, Bradley 9, Slater 8, Cambell 6, Smith 5. Smith added a team leading 9 rebounds and tied Bradley for the team lead in assists with 4. Burfield led the team in steals with 3. Malvern was led by Tucci with 20 and 5 big fouls. A sluggish-looking Wackerly had 14 points.

The JV team lost a heart breaker in overtime. The long 3-pointer gave Malvern a 1 point lead with 5 seconds remaining. Shultz's prayer was not answered at the buzzer. The final was 46-47.

A Free-Press article recapping the Garfield and Malvern games
http://www.the-press-news.com/news/slideshow/4771273

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

Quotables

You may or may not know that Coach Chad Spurgeon has a reputation of saying some outrageous things from time to time. By keeping a steady ear and enlisting the help of his players, I have compiled a list of some of the more interesting things to come out of his mouth.

During a halftime speech
"You guys are like a loosely held together lawn chair from the 1970's"

"I woke up this morning and had myself a dozen eggs, a 2lb steak and a beaver liver"

During an early morning Saturday practice
"You can't wake up at nine for a nine thirty practice. Half of u look like you combed your hair with a pork chop this morning"

"I think I could wrestle a bear and a gorilla and win"

During a film breakdown session
"How about every pass we throw sucks! Lets talk about that"

Describing himself learning how his new phone works
"Trying to figure out my phone, I looked like a monkey playing with a magic fox"

Describing his ability to perform in clutch situations
"I could make a free throw with a 10 lb weight hanging form my neck.. Because I'm mentally tough"

Explaining the feeling he gets when his players don't listen
"You should just throw the ball and hit me in the stomach because that's what it feels like every time I tell you to do something and u don't do it"

"I have broken open a femur and sucked the marrow out, uncooked"

"I'm going to name my first 2 kids Meadowlark and Baskerville"
and furthermore on this one, "The great thing is - they work equally well for boys or girls"


I'm sure there are more out there... Feel free to submit your own favorite

Blast From The Past: The 1971 Team

Written and contributed by Athletic Director Joe Bogdan

The 1970-71 season began with many changes. The 20-2 team from the year before had graduated three starters, and a fourth starter had transferred. Despite the great change, the winning continued at what would become a record pace. The deepest tournament run in school history would end with a heart breaking one point loss to Pleasant in the regional finals at the Columbus Fairgrounds. A single basket is all that separated Coach Bob Jordan’s team from a place in the State semi-finals.

The 1971 team is often referred to as the greatest team in East Canton history, and with good reason. The team still holds records for most wins (22), most points (1795), most field goals made (721), and most rebounds (1245). Center Steve Clark still holds a single season record with 375 rebounds, and forward Bruce Hackathorn still holds the record with 218 made field goals. Clark was named first team All-Ohio, and Hackathorn was Honorable Mention.



Senior point guard Glenn Eaton, Sr. forward Vic Garman, and Jr. forward Bob Crable rounded out the usual starting five.

The regular season went very smoothly for the hornets. After an early season loss at home to Garaway, the team won nine straight before losing on the road at Strasburg. There were two close games with Tuslaw that year, both hornet victories, and a close win over Tusky Valley early in the year. East Canton dominated the rest of the schedule, and entered tournament play 16-2.

Double digit wins over United Local, Lowellville, and Lordstown sent the hornets into the district tournament. Resistance in the districts wasn’t much fiercer, as the hornets beat Kent State by nine and McDonald by twenty-two to capture the first district title in school history. The regional tournament was held at the Columbus Fairgrounds. East Canton beat Ridgedale in the semi-finals 70-66, and stood one win away from a birth in the state tournament. Both Clark and Hackathorn were plagued by foul trouble in the game against Pleasant. Both spent significant time on the bench in the middle quarters when Pleasant took control of the game.

East Canton 84, Mogadore 46

I'm proud to be relieved of my duties of writing a story by The Repository. Enjoy the much deserved coverage

http://www.cantonrep.com/highschool/x1124762127/East-Canton-s-Burfield-dials-it-up-long-range

Here are some stats, opinions, observations..

Burfield tied a school record with 8 3-pointers made. His quest to break the record got a little ridiculous towards the end of the game, chucking 3's from the volleyball lines and under great distress. Coach Swartz of Mogadore handled the situation very well saying, "Were just worried about our team and our defense."

East Canton made 10 3-pointers as a team - Cartwright (2) and Burfield (8) made them all

East Canton went 16/24 from the free throw line compared to Mogadore's 7/19

The defense and intensity is making teams very frustrated. It becomes apparent with the flagrant fouls and trash talking we've been seeing a lot of lately. For the most part, the Hornets have been the bigger men in these altercations.

Smith led the Hornets in rebounding with 9 - Slater added 6 boards and Bradley 5

Cartwright led the Hornets with 6 assists and 3 steals

Tipton led Mogadore in scoring with 11

I love the quote by coach Swartz in The Rep.. "Up until tonight, our strengths have been defense and rebounding, And we thought we’d be able to hold our own. Not tonight.” This was not a bad team the Hornets drilled last night. They had some talent. I would say positive things about their coaching staff too, but these comments have been under scrutiny lately so I'll leave it out. But the Hornets put up 84 points on a team that was priding itself on defense. Could anyone have imagined this after watching is barely scrape by Tusky Valley in game 1?

East Canton had 50 points at halftime. Mogadore finished the game with 46

Scoring for the Hornets... Burfield 34, Bradley 14, Smith 10, Cartwright 8

If you missed the player profile of Joe Cartwright yesterday, make sure you check it out

The JV took a beating from Mogadore's JV group, 77-45. Pennell scored 14 and Shultz & Taylor each had 11 for the Hornets

The Rep photo gallery
http://www.cantonrep.com/highschool/x426329607/High-School-Sports-Photo-Gallery

The Rep box scores
http://www.cantonrep.com/highschool/x503201548/High-school-boys-basketball-box-scores-for-Feb-5

The Rep results
http://www.cantonrep.com/highschool/x1124762170/High-school-boys-basketball-report-for-Feb-5

Player Profile: Joe Cartwright

Joe, a senior, plays the role of defensive stopper for the Hornets. His hustle and intensity are unmatched at the high school level. He averages 8 points per game and is 2nd on the Hornets in 3-point field goal makes. Get to know Joe a little better through our 3rd edition of Player Profiles


Favorite Food? Chicken


Do You Play Any Other Sports? I run track


Favorite Sports Team? Cleveland Cavs


Favorite Schools Class? For the fear of my life, Calculus


Last Book You Read for Entertainment? Holes


Favorite Movie? Anything with Will Ferrell in it


What's in Your CD Player Right Now? Anything Rap or RnB


Who Is Your Role Model? My Brother


Lebron or Kobe? LeBron


Favorite Spurg Quote/Word? "That's not sexy"


Which Excites You the Most: Dunk Shot, Three Pointer or A Charge Taken? A Charge


Most Memorable or Funniest Moment In Athletics? Zell making a deep 3-pointer to put us into overtime against Columbiana


Post High School Aspirations? Go to college to study physical therapy



Coach Spurgeon on Joe “That kid is chiseled from stones found in the primordial ooze”

I would also like to re-hash a conversation I had with Coach Spurgeon at the beginning stages of the season. It went something like this...

Me: Joe really is a special player. He leaves everything he has out on the court and tries to do everything we ask him to do to his full abilities

Spurg: Yeah, if we had 5 Joe Cartwrights we would never lose

Me: We are lucky to have one kid like that

Spurg: Yes we are. Most teams don't have any

Recap: East Canton 63, Tuslaw 59 (Or, Introducing... The Escape Artists)

Harry Houdini had a few acts that would draw fans in droves to witness. He escaped from the Chinese Water Torture Cell (See Tusky Valley for our version of this trick), he escaped handcuffs out of a milk crate (See Sandy Valley for our version of this one) and he would also allow random people to punch him in the abdomen to show he could absorb body blows (See last night's game for the Hornet example). Houdini eventually died from complications from a punch to his gut during one of his acts. And if you don't pay careful attention, history will repeat itself.

The first quarter was a full round of trading blows. After 8 minutes, Tuslaw held a one point lead, 16-15. In the second, East Canton outscored Tuslaw by nine points to take an 8 points lead into half, 25-33. After the third quarter, East Canton had pushed their lead out 3 more points to 39-50. A big play happened with around 5 minutes remaining in the 4th. Bradley got up a full head of steam on a drive, made a lay-up and a Tuslaw defender attempted to take a charge. He got solid contact with Bradley but he appeared to be sliding under him late and be positioned right under the goal. The call, in my opinion, was correctly made to give Bradley the bucket but this is typically a 50-50 call. If it goes the other way, Bradley has four fouls and 3 points come off the board.

The lead stayed in double digits through the first half of the fourth quarter until the Hornets were blindsided by an 8-0 run by the Mustangs in under a minute. Instead of being up 13, the Hornets were now up 5 and Tuslaw was shooting the free throw of the and-1. Tuslaw missed the free throw but recovered their own miss and got fouled again. I'm not a firm believer in karma but the free throw gods evened things out after a few horrific performances from the charity stripe earlier in the year for the Hornets. The Tuslaw player missed both FTs and the Hornets held a 5 point lead, 56-51.

The Hornets got a turnaround fade away jumper by Cartwright to increase the lead to 7. Tuslaw scored quickly and fouled Smith in the back court. He made the front end of the one-and-one and missed the back end. Tuslaw's Getz came down and stroked a long pull-up to cut the lead to 4. Bradley got fouled and stepped to the line for a 1-and-1. He stroked both with precision, 61-55. After a Hammond 3-pointer, the Hornet lead went to 3. With :17 remaining, Tuslaw was able to cause a jump ball on the ensuing possession. The arrow pointed in the Hornets favor. Cartwright then snuck out for a wide open lay-up to seal the game.

Burfield led the Hornets with 17 points, including 5 3-pointers. Bradley had 12 points with 6 coming from his 7 FT attempts. Smith also had 12 (while leading the Hornets with 2 blocks and 3 steals) and Cartwright added 9 points and 6 assists. Tuslaw put three in double-figures: Getz with 16 (10 in the 4th), Hammond with 11, including 3 3-pointers, and Combs with 10.

With all this being said, I pose the question: Was the Tuslaw another game to tighten our abs, help build the Hornets experience and toughness, or did we get our appendix ruptured like another famous escape artist?

The JV was defeated 55-42. Taylor led the way for the EC JV with 14

Things I Think I Think
I think our student section provided an uplifting experience to the Hornets, a coordinated and consistent group. I feel a lot more confident playing Mogadore, Minerva and Streetsboro at home when the Hornets have a true 6th man

I think Tuslaw was very well coached. They had unique schemes that left the Hornets confused and second guessing. I have played hundreds of basketball games in my career and never saw a 1-1-1-1-1 press before. Tuslaw pulled it out last night and pulled it off to get a few turnovers. They also frustrated our motion offense and dribble drive sets with pre-game adjustments that didn't let East Canton run their stuff in the smooth manner (this is debatable) they are normally accustomed to

I think if East Canton wants to keep getting better, they need to play games like last night. I can picture us playing in a similar game, maybe even in the tournament, and the kids and coaches both have a eureka moment: "Hey, I've been here before and I know how this game ends." I saw some "deer in headlights" looks last night, but even Houdini had to have his assistant give him a key to escape a few of his acts
___________________________________

The Rep Results
http://www.cantonrep.com/highschool/x1090835089/High-school-boys-basketball-report-for-Feb-2

The Rep Box
http://www.cantonrep.com/highschool/x979444433/High-school-boys-basketball-box-scores-for-Feb-2

Blast From The Past: The 1984 District Champs

By Athletic Director Joe Bogdan



1984: The Arrival Of Coach P

Future all time wins leader Joe Pangrazio arrived at East Canton in the fall of 1983. He inherited a talented team led by senior All-Ohioan Tony Moldovan and senior point guard Tom Crank. This combination produced immediate results, as the Hornets would post a 17-3 regular season and win the first Senate League title since the ’71 team. Coach Pangrazio’s first edition of the Hornets would end the season ranked ninth in the state. They were ranked #1 on January 10th, an East Canton first. Tony Moldovan led the offense by averaging a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds per game. Tom Crank set single season records for assists (215) and steals (84) that still stand today. Tom also graduated as the career leader in those two categories.

Coach Pangrazio subjected his players to twice a day practices as his August hiring had left little time for summer workouts. Moldovan and Crank, along with Lonnie Horton, Rich Tharp, and Don Shimek took to his running style of play very quickly. The Hornets got out of the gate well, losing only a road game to Sebring during the season’s first half. The second half of the season brought similar results, with only a one point loss to Claymont and a four point loss to Minerva blemishing the record.

East Canton clinched the Senate League title on the road at Lake late in the season. Tony Moldovan put an exclamation point on the evening by running a perfect back door play for a slam as time expired.

The Hornets avenged their loss to Sebring in the tournament, and faced a very talented Woodridge team in the district finals. Woodridge came in averaging nearly 90 points per game, but East Canton held them to just 54 points, winning the title 72-54.

The Hornets faced Skyvue at the Canton Field House in the regional semi-finals, falling 63-53.



Pictured above: Tom Crank
Below: Tony Moldovan