Staff photo / Brad Emerine Canfield’s Morgan Carey lands on Poland’s Jackie Grisdale during a battle for a loose ball Saturday in the Cardinals’ 40-36 win over the Bulldogs at Poland.

POLAND — Aggressiveness was the biggest factor in a Saturday afternoon girls basketball game between rivals Canfield and Poland.

In the end, the Cardinals won that battle and the game, defeating the host Bulldogs 40-36 in the first of two non-league matches between the schools.

“(Canfield) played a little harder than we did, got to more loose balls and more rebounds,” lamented Poland coach Nick Blanch, whose team fell to 6-2 with its second consecutive setback. “In a game of this magnitude, where every possession matters, that was the difference today. We lost those extra possessions and that usually doesn’t get a lot of paper time, but that was the difference.

“Rebounding, boxing out and chasing down loose balls … we didn’t do that down the stretch and when you don’t do fundamental things right for four quarters, it can come back and bite you. And it did. That’s why we always talk about consistency and effort.”

After Kailyn Brown scored a bucket off a nice feed from Lizzy Herdman to give Poland a 33-32 lead with 2:34 left, Canfield quickly regained the upper hand when Aiden Orlovsky knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing in transition just 10 seconds later, and the Cardinals never trailed the rest of the way.

“I shot it in rhythm and didn’t think about it,” Orlovsky said. “It was kind of in transition and I got a good look and had a little space, so I didn’t rush it and didn’t hesitate either. I think it was really important, a real momentum changer. That put us up and we were able to do enough from there to get the win.”

“(Poland) had the momentum there, but we quickly got it back,” said Canfield coach Matt Reel, whose team improved to 8-1. “Aiden is one of our seniors who played in a reserve role last year, but she has established herself as one of our leaders this year. That was a huge basket. We exhaled a little bit and the pressure went back on (Poland). For her to have that confidence to take that shot at that point in the game says a lot about her. We talk about owning your own confidence and she owned it by taking that shot.

“You know, this felt like a tournament atmosphere. It was played possession-by-possession. Nobody was giving you anything. These are the types of games that will help you in the future and in the tournament.”

Poland missed the front end of a one-and-one and also missed two free throws with 1:00 left that would have tied the game. The Cardinals’ Alyssa Dill then blocked a Poland shot and she was fouled with 37 seconds remaining and Canfield still ahead 35-33.

What followed was a crazy finish of combined missed second free throws and offensive rebounds, as Canfield continually held possession with tipped balls and loose-ball rebounds.

Dill made her first try, missed the second and Grace Mangapora rebounded and was fouled. She made her first from the stripe, missed the second and Orlovsky rebounded. Orlovsky got the ball back to Mangapora who was fouled. Again, Mangapora made her first try and missed the second. But Orlovsky tipped the rebound out. Mangapora got it and was fouled. This time, Mangapora missed both attempts, but Dill rebounded and was fouled.

Following a timeout, Dill made both tosses for a 40-33 lead with 21.1 seconds left.

“What makes basketball such a great game is you never know what is going to happen,” Reel said. “If you would’ve said we’d get four offensive rebounds in the closing 30 seconds with the game on the line … it was as surprising to us as it was everybody watching.

“But that’s why you never give up on a play or take a play off. We weren’t cashing in on all those free throws, but the girls were working hard on the rebounds and it gave us more chances and it was killing clock.”

Poland’s Connie Cougras made a 3-pointer with 3.7 seconds left to account for the final score.

Summer Sammarone led Canfield with 14 points. Mangapora added seven and Orlovsky and Dill both finished with six.

The Cardinals led 10-6 after the first quarter and 19-18 at halftime. The game was tied at 29 entering the final quarter.

Brown’s 12 points led Poland. Cougras and Lizzy Herdman both scored eight for the Bulldogs.

‘The kids are working hard, they just have to understand it needs to be for four quarters,” Blanch said. “You can’t pick and choose when you want to play.

“By the same token, we didn’t give Canfield the game. We made them earn it. Credit to them, they came here and executed better than we did in front of a nice crowd. They out-physicaled us a bit.

“They do a nice job over there and our challenge is to return the favor (on Feb. 13) in our regular-season finale. It’s a nice rivalry that brings out a nice crowd and this is the first time in many years that we’re playing them twice in the regular season. So now we want to go to their place playing well, get a win and carry that momentum into the tournament.”