CANFIELD — The 29th-seeded Salem Quakers entered their division IV district semi-final contest against the top-seeded Canfield Cardinals riding a wave of confidence and momentum following their sectional victory last Friday night over Clearview. However, the Cardinals quickly took the wind out of the Quakers’ sails, cruising to a 47-23 victory on Tuesday night.

With the loss, the Quakers closed the season with an 8-16 record. They struggled with injuries and sickness in mid-season, but they enjoyed bookend success with a string of victories at the beginning and the end of the season.

“We played our best basketball at the end of the season,” Quakers head coach Jeff Andres stated. “We played really well on Friday, which was a tall task because of the hour-and-a-half trip we had to take on a bus. We played loose tonight, and we were confident coming into the game, and we knew we had a tough opponent in Canfield. I was proud of our guys in how they prepared, and they took their best swing.”

“We started great. We had a great preseason, and we thought we were going to be a lot better than our record shows. I think we are a lot better than our record. I feel like if we had ten more games, we would win eight of them,” Senior center Evan Jones said.

The victory improves the Cardinals to 19-4 on the year. They will play for a District championship on Saturday afternoon at North Ridgeville. The Cardinals will face the West Branch Warriors after they defeated West Geauga on Tuesday night.

“All year our guys have had respect for our opponents. We played Salem last year and I thought that they have improved drastically. They are physical and have some guys that can score,” Cardinal head coach Andrew Vlajkovich remarked.

The Quakers played one of their better games on defense, however, offensively they struggled to get the ball in the bucket. They would not hit a shot from the floor until the 6:18 mark of the second quarter when Cletis Monroy drove to the basket for a layup. However, at that point, the Quakers trailed 18-5.

“We played physically against them. We matched them in that regard,” Andres said. “16-1 out of the gate, but once we settled in, we played them almost even the rest of the way. We kept fighting, and that is what I am most proud about. They came in as a huge underdog, but they believed, stuck together and they went after them. I can’t ask for anything more than that.”

“It was so frustrating to see them making shots that we couldn’t. Then we were committing turnovers. We have struggled to score all season, but I hope our young guys can learn from what they saw,” Evans added.

After the Quakers took a quick 1-0 lead in the contest, the Cardinals went on a 16-0 run and closed the first frame with a 16-2 advantage. They continued to pull away from the Quakers in the second frame as they built a commanding 20-point lead at 31-11 by the halftime intermission.

“They came out tonight and really controlled the tempo,” Vlajkovich said. “They slowed it down and spread us out a little bit. But our guys were pretty tough and gritty and didn’t succumb to the frustration that offense can give you.”

The Quakers continued to battle as they started the second half with consecutive baskets by Monroy and Jack Andres on their first two possessions to cut the deficit to 16 at 31-15. Both teams then settled into a bitter, defensive battle as the Cardinals held a 19-point, 36-17 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

Monroy would score 7 points in the game to lead the Quakers on the scoreboard. Evan Jones grabbed 10 rebounds to control the boards for the Quakers.

“Last game I had a double-double. So, my coaches told me that I needed to come in and play as hard as I could,” Jones said.

The Cardinals would eventually stretch out their lead to a game-high 26 points late in the contest before the Quakers scored on a three by Steve Landfried and a free throw by Colin Reisen closing the game to the final margin to a 24-point difference.

The Cardinals were led by Drew Shapiro and Bryce Roberts with both scoring 9 points in the contest. Angelo Delucia hauled down 6 rebounds to control the boards for the Cardinals.

“We ran into some injuries and some illnesses, as most teams do in a long season. But we have some young guys who played really well and learned from these seniors. The best thing about this group that we have, is that we have some hoopers. Some kids that are going to put some time in.” Andres spoke about the bright future of the Quakers basketball program.