Staff file photo / Neel Madhavan. Canfield senior Tony Russo drives to the basket during a home game against Warren G. Harding earlier this season. The Cardinals sit at 22-4 after winning their first district championship since 2000. Canfield will take on Warrensville Heights in the Division II regional semifinal on Thursday night at 8 p.m.

CANFIELD — Back in November, a district title seemed like both a real possibility and an unlikely scenario for the Canfield boys basketball team.

The Cardinals’ faithful had plenty of reasons to be optimistic. The Cardinals were returning a wealth of talent from last year’s squad, which finished 20-6 under John Cullen, who was in the first year of his second stint at Canfield.

Besides, winning district titles is commonplace for Cullen. He’s been a part of 11 district championships throughout his hall of fame career, including six at Canfield. He previously guided the Cardinals from 1982-2010.

Still, the high hopes turned to cautious optimism when senior Jake Schneider suffered a season-ending football injury, which also ended his high school basketball career. Cullen refers to Schneider as “the best player I’ve had in fifty years.”

For some teams, even the cautious optimism might have been dampened by an 0-2 start to the season, which Canfield experienced with losses to New Albany and Ursuline.

However, the Cardinals had a different mindset.

“After our loss to Ursuline, (assistant) Coach (Andy) Vlajkovich told us that he hates to lose, but that we might be the best 0-2 team in the state,” recalled Canfield senior Tony Russo. “Then Coach Cullen reminded us that we just had to learn from the losses and move forward. We had to stick to our game plan. Even though we were 0-2, I think we headed into that week of practice feeling good about ourselves.”

In fact, Canfield would go on to win its next eight games. The Cardinals suffered a pair of losses in mid-January, then won nine straight to end the regular season.

Last Saturday, the Cardinals made it 13 straight wins with a 64-51 victory over Cleveland Glenville, capturing the program’s first district championship since 2000.

Canfield has won its four tournament games by an average score of 72-40.

On Thursday, the Cardinals (22-4) will face Warrensville Heights (18-6) in a Division II regional semifinal at Canton Memorial Fieldhouse at 8 p.m.

“When you lose a player like Jake (Schneider), all the other players have to adjust and increase their roles,” Cullen said. “It took awhile. We won a lot of close games early on, but in the process we found out what our strengths were, and we adapted to those strengths and we learned to lean on what we can do best.

“The credit goes to these kids. This group averages a 3.8 GPA in the classroom, and their basketball IQ is even higher than that. They are such a smart basketball team. They understand their roles. They understand what it takes to win. They also understand that while winning is important, learning how not to lose and learning to hate losing is just as important. Each of our four losses led to improvements.”

Offensively, Canfield is paced by senior Dom Cruz, who is averaging 15.3 points per game. In an 88-15 win over Collinwood earlier this year, Cruz knocked down 11 three-pointers in an 11-minute stretch and finished with 37 points.

Junior Drew Shapiro, who Cullen refers to as “a blast from the past,” has dished out 170 assists while turning the ball over just 30 times.

“That just doesn’t happen in today’s game,” Cullen said. “Drew thrives on making other players better. He is by far the best point guard in our league, and he’s our best defender. He’s our focal point.”

Russo (8.2 ppg), who Cullen refers to as “our smartest basketball IQ guy by far, and a team leader” scored 15 points, snagged 16 rebounds and dished out seven assists in a sectional win over Akron East.

Junior Ben Weaver (8.5 ppg) “has as much talent as anyone on this team,” according to Cullen, while senior Sam Castronova (9.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg) “went from sitting the bench in middle school to becoming a much better player each year since.” Against Canal Fulton Northwest in the district semifinal, Castronova made three straight three-pointers to help seal the win.

“We have guys like Jake Delisio, who is our nuclear weapon, he disrupts the opponent with his play,” Cullen said. “(Sophomore) Landon Shina took four charges in our last two games. He’s not afraid of the moment. (Sophomore) Bryce Roberts, our second-best shooter, stepped up and scored 20 points in a tournament game.”

Backed by its deep and balanced lineup, Canfield now faces a Warrensville Heights team that is making its first regional appearance since 2000. The Tigers have 18 victories after winning just five games in the previous two years.

“We know that we’re going to get tested, but I feel like we’re up for the challenge,” Castronova said. “We’re pretty locked in right now. We have a great coaching staff that has made us better with each game. We’re anxious to ink our name into the record books. We just have to all play our roles and stay focused.”

Russo says that he and his teammates have been focused since losing to Chaney last year in the district final.

“I have a picture of me with my family that was taken after that loss to Chaney,” Russo said. “I look so sad in that picture. Everytime I look at it, it reminds me of how much it hurt not to win a district title.

“I think we were all determined to get that title this year. It was a great feeling, but we believe we can still accomplish much more in this tournament.”

The Canfield-Warrensville Heights game will be preceded by the other Canton regional semifinal which pits Ursuline (22-3) against Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph (18-7).

The two winners will meet this Saturday for the right to advance to the state semifinals.

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