BARBERTON, Ohio (WKBN) – Canfield senior Abby Muckelroy scored 12 of the first 16 points as the Cardinals built up a big first half lead, and held off Marlington for a 41-31 win in the Division II regional semifinals.
Muckelroy finished with a game-high 15 points on five 3-pointers and Carlie Harmon pitched in 10 points for the Cardinals.
“It’s honestly a great performance,” Cardinals’ senior Abby Muckleroy said. “I’m so proud of my team because I wouldn’t have been able to get those five three without them and I’m so happy that I got them with me, after what happened last year I was hoping we would get this far and we did it so.”
Canfield took a 26-10 lead into halftime before Marlington went on a run to cut the deficit to 7 in the third quarter, but Muckelory’s fifth 3-pointer of the game answered the Dukes’ run.
“You know, we expect [Muckelroy] to take and make big shots for us and she did that tonight along with playing really good defense and rebounding for us,” Canfield head coach Matt Reel said. “So I thought that as you know, it kind of settles down a little bit and we knew they’d make a run and our defense stepped up.”
The Cardinals improve to 25-1 on the season and advance to the DII regional final and will play Canal Fulton Northwest on March 3 at 7 p.m. at Barberton High School.
