ELYRIA — In the hectic aftermath of Saturday’s Division III, Northeast 4 girls district final, head coach Matt Reel tried to put into words where Canfield’s senior class stacks up in the program’s decorated history after what it had just accomplished.
In passing, assistant coach Pat Pavlansky didn’t hesitate to chime in.
“I’ve been around long enough. It is the best senior class,” Pavlansky said with a smile.
With their 54-37 victory over Avon Lake, the Cardinals’ seven seniors made their own history, capturing their third district championship in the last four years, as they knocked off the defending Division III state runner-up at Elyria High School.
Canfield (23-2) now moves on to the Division III northeast regional semifinal on Thursday against Copley at 6 p.m. at Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.
“They’re up there with the best of them,” Reel said. “I think they’re up to like 87 wins in four years. It’s phenomenal. It’s a special, special group. You never expect it to happen. But boy, they just kind of will it to happen. They’re right up there with any of the groups we’ve had, and I know they’re hoping we can continue to keep it going and keep practicing one more day.”
For Canfield’s senior class, it all started with the regional runner-up team in 2023. While not all of them were on the varsity squad that year as freshmen, several players were still key contributors, including Jenna Triveri, Sofia Castronova and Carly Fleming.
“I remember when they were here in the regional final their freshmen year. A few of them played in it, but they all got to experience it,” Reel said. “It was just one of those things where they’ve just grown and grown. They’re not satisfied and they work really hard. They kind of like when people doubt them. It’s one of those groups that’s just phenomenal to coach. They’re great kids, and it’s a privilege to coach them.”
The next season, Canfield went through its share of ups and downs. The Cardinals went 17-9 and lost in the district title game. It was the only season that Canfield’s seniors didn’t win at least 20 games.
That experience gave them motivation, and since then, they haven’t looked back over the past two years, capturing back-to-back district titles.
“I think this shows how experienced we are,” Castronova said. “A lot of it comes from the seniors before us. 2023, 2024, 2025 — they’re all a great group of leaders, and I don’t think this would have been possible without them. … These girls are my best friends. Growing up with them, it’s been like six years with everyone. So this is really a great experience for all of us.”
Triveri reflected on what she and the rest of the seniors have done to get back to this point.
“It means a lot to us. A lot of us put in a lot of work, and we all work so hard for this moment,” she added. “I’m just so glad to be part of a program that has so much success, and I’m just blessed to be a part of this team.”
With four of its starters having played on its state runner-up team last year, Avon Lake (16-8) provided a stiff test for Canfield.
Led by Wayne State-commit Olivia Miller, the Shoregals had the edge in the first quarter, leading 13-8 by the end of the period.
However, Canfield’s suffocating defense forced Avon Lake into turnover after turnover. The Cardinals just struggled to convert those takeaways into points early on against the Shoregals’ length.
“Our guards in our 2-3 just put so much pressure,” Triveri said. “Every girl out there, all five girls play great defense. You can’t win a game without defense, and all five of us play it together. That’s why we get so many easy layups on the offensive side.”
Canfield started to settle in during the second quarter, as it finally started to convert its takeaways into points.
After the Shoregals took a six-point lead, their largest of the day, the Cardinals answered with a 7-0 run that culminated with a three from Triveri that gave Canfield its first lead.
“In that second quarter, I felt like Carly Fleming was everywhere,” Reel said. “I think we did a better job of figuring out what they want to do. We hit some big shots there when we were trading baskets a little bit. I think that settled us down, and I think we settled into the game a little bit.”
By halftime, the Cardinals maintained a slight edge, 27-25. The second half, though, belonged to Canfield.
The Cardinals held the Shoregals to six points in each the third and fourth quarters, as they outscored Avon Lake 27-12 in the second half. The Shoregals actually outshot Canfield on the day 42.9% to 41.7%, but their turnovers just proved to be too much to overcome.
Triveri led the Cardinals with 13 points, while Fleming had 11. Castronova added nine points, as Lorieona Jannone finished with eight. Miller led Avon Lake with 12 points in her final game for the Shoregals.
“We made some adjustments that we talked about at halftime,” Reel said. “We did a better job of trying to take away them getting the ball in the high post a little more, which exposed our lack of size down low. The other thing, we did a nice job spreading them out and using our quickness to get to the rim. We finally finished some of those layups we had missed in the first half.
“This group, man. They’re just a group of warriors. I don’t care how short they are. They’re a special group.”
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