Staff photo / Neel Madhavan Canfield’s Jenna Havrilla (21) puts up a layup in the lane while being defended by Lakeview’s Sienna Terry (13) and Mackenzie Stowe (21) in the district semifinal on Tuesday night at Canfield.

CANFIELD — For a little more than 12 minutes, No. 19 seed Lakeview gave top-seeded Canfield all it could handle on Tuesday night.

But with the game tied with 3:28 till halftime, the Cardinals ended the first half on a run. That gave Canfield all the separation it needed, as it pulled away in the second half for a 47-34 victory over the Bulldogs in the Division IV, Northeast 2 district semifinal.

“We had 10 days off, and you don’t want to use that as an excuse, but we just weren’t in sync, and it took us awhile to get there,” Canfield head coach Matt Reel said of the Cardinals advancing due to an opening-round forfeit.

“Without one of our starters playing tonight, it took us a little while to get used to that. But that spurt at the end of the half, I think it just put some wind in our sails and gave us some confidence. We felt like we were getting good shots, we just finally put some in the hoop. A lot of times, that’s what it’s all about.”

In the first quarter, Lakeview matched Canfield shot for shot, while pressuring the Cardinals into turnovers. Mackenzie Stowe and Sophia Irwin knocked down three early 3-pointers for the Bulldogs, and by the end of the opening period, Lakeview trailed 13-11.

For the first 4:30 of the second quarter, turnovers kept Canfield from finding any momentum, and with just over three minutes till halftime, Lakeview tied the game at 15.

But from there, the Cardinals shook off the rust from the long layoff, and started to heat up, as Sofia Castronova knocked down a series of baskets to give Canfield momentum heading into the intermission.

“I told the girls, Canfield is a team that’s just not going to beat themselves,” Lakeview head coach Jason Lee said. “They don’t look flashy on film, but they’re fundamentally sound. So when you make mistakes, they capitalize. For a quarter and a half, we didn’t follow the game plan.”

Castronova got the Cardinals rolling in the first half, then newly-named All-American Conference Player of the Year Jenna Triveri picked things up offensively for Canfield in the second half. Triveri scored nine of her game-high 16 points after halftime.

Without second-leading scorer Carly Fleming, who remains day-to-day with a minor injury according to Reel, the Cardinals needed increased production from their supporting cast.

They got it with 12 points from Castronova, eight points from Jenna Havrilla and six points from Ceci Muckleroy.

“I told them in the locker room, ‘that performance was the epitome of what we are,'” Reel said. “Everybody that played in that game had a hand in winning that game — key points, key steals, Lorieonna Jannone came in and handled the ball well for us and created for others. We had all seven that played tonight really do a good job with that. That’s kind of our team. When somebody’s struggling, somebody else picks them up, and that’s what makes this group so special.”

Lakeview got plenty of shots off in the second half, but just couldn’t get them to fall. Stowe finished with 13 points to lead the Bulldogs, while Annabelle Humphrey added 10.

The Bulldogs shot 24.5% overall and made just four of their 20 3-point attempts, which was a product of both shot selection and Canfield’s defense, according to Lee.

“We like to shoot deep threes, and we’re typically very good at them, but the game plan was not to keep shooting the deep threes,” Lee said. “The game plan was to draw them out a little bit and then open up those gaps. We opened the gaps a lot, but we didn’t take advantage of it. I feel like we kept shooting the shots we didn’t want to take. But I don’t want to take anything away from their defense — their defense is phenomenal.”

With a young team that is set to lose just one senior to graduation, the Bulldogs have a lot to look forward to next season. But for now, Lakeview ends the season at 15-9 in the district semifinal.

“I think we surprised a lot of people this year, and I think we surprised a lot of people with our effort,” Lee said. “These girls, their grit is just phenomenal. We don’t have a lot of numbers on this team, and I remember back to a day in the summer when we had seven girls — we pressed for two-and-a-half hours. To me, that’s impressive. They’re not going to give up. They just keep going. I know this isn’t the way you want your season to end, but I’m excited for what the future holds for Lakeview basketball.”

Meanwhile, Canfield moves on to Saturday’s Division IV, Northeast 2 district semifinal against No. 8 seed Mantua Crestwood, which defeated Seville Cloverleaf 57-37 on Tuesday night. Tip is set for 4 p.m. at Lordstown.