Staff photo / Preston Byers Canfield’s Jace Riccardo smiles amid a dominant start to Friday’s Division IV sectional final home win vs. Struthers.

CANFIELD — Canfield and Struthers’ seasons could not have gone any differently, and their differences certainly showed Friday night.

The top-seeded Cardinals, who entered the Division IV, Northeast 1, sectional final with 19 wins and three losses, bludgeoned the 3-19 Wildcats 71-25 in an all-around team performance.

“I’m just proud of our guys for working, playing hard and trying to be better everyday,” Canfield head coach Andy Vlajkovich said. “We got to play 11 guys in the first half, and all 15 played in the game. That first group, the first seven guys or so, went in and gave us great effort for the half and played right.”

Five-and-a-half minutes went by before Struthers scored a point. In the meantime, the Cardinals, kickstarted by senior Bryce Roberts, built a 15-0 lead. Logan Marciano got the Wildcats on the board with a pair of free throws, and with just over a minute remaining in the quarter, Anthony Pastella made a 3-pointer, their first and only field goal of the period.

Conversely, Canfield scored 27 points, courtesy of seven players. The Cardinals generated a considerable portion of their offense with an active and aggressive defense, which made Struthers noticeably uncomfortable with full-court pressure and frequent traps. The defensive energy caused numerous Wildcats turnovers, including multiple intercepted passes and traveling violations.

Although with a slower start offensively, Canfield similarly dominated both ends of the court in the second quarter.

After back-to-back Struthers baskets, the Cardinals again overwhelmed the ‘Cats in the final 3:30 of the first half. In that span, Canfield expanded its lead from 24 points to 38 with a 17-3 run. The Wildcats earned one made field goal, a successful 3-point play, late in the half to avoid being blanked down the stretch.

“It’s as high character of a team as you’re going to be around,” Vlajkovich said. “These guys are wired, honestly, for greatness. Each kid out there gets the most out of each other and out of themselves. They play so hard together. It’s been a joy of a team to coach all year.”

Only 32 combined points were scored in the quick second half, the entirety of which was played with a running clock due to the 35-plus-point lead.

Of the 15 Canfield players, 13 scored Friday; Grant Seachrist and Roberts had 14 and 11 points, respectively, while eight more recorded at least four points on the night. Only four players for No. 35 Struthers (3-20) tallied any points, with Marciano and Pastella combining for 20 of the 25.

Wildcats interim coach Mike Colaneri, who stepped into the role after D.J. Aldish was placed on leave last month amid an investigation, could not be reached for comment after the game.

Canfield (20-3) turns its attention to 14th-seeded Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin, which defeated No. 23 Firelands 72-50 on Friday. The district semifinals between the Cardinals and Lions will be held in Canfield on Tuesday night.

“NDCL’s very good,” Vlajkovich said. “I think of all the higher seeds, we have, by far, the toughest district semifinal matchup. … They’ve got very good guards, they’ve got some length, some athleticism and they played a brutal schedule this year. They have one of the best strengths of schedule in all of Division IV. … So it’s a team whose record is very deceiving, and these guys know it.”