Staff photo / Neel Madhavan Canfield’s Kate Sahli (14) and Grace McQuiston (0) embrace, while Abby Muckleroy (30) looks on in the aftermath of the Cardinals’ loss to Canal Fulton Northwest on Friday night.

BARBERTON — Canfield will have to wait a little longer to return to its first state final four since 2001.

Known all season for their defense and shooting, the Cardinals received a dose of their own medicine Friday night. Canal Fulton Northwest stymied Canfield from the opening tip, knocking off the Cardinals 51-29 in the Division II regional final.

“It’s a speech you never want to give (to your team) as a coach when you get this close,” Canfield head coach Matt Reel said. “We try to tell them that basketball is what we do, not who we are, and I thought this group represented us and themselves and their families in a great way this year. Northwest was better than us (Friday night).

“We told them early on, when you put your heart into something, you have to risk it being broken, and I thought we did that. I’m proud of them for that because not a lot of groups want to do that anymore — risk (losing) and not play your best.”

Northwest ran out to a 10-point lead, looking a lot like the Cardinals in the process — hitting threes and playing tight, physical defense.

Canfield got looks, but they just wouldn’t fall. During the Indians’ run, Canfield went 0-for-8 from the floor.

“Early, I thought we had some good shots and good opportunities, but they wouldn’t go down,” Reel said. “They had two big threes, and we had decent hands in their faces. I thought that really got them going.”

The Cardinals responded with an 8-0 run to open the second quarter, but wouldn’t score the rest of the half, as the Indians came back with nine straight points.

“They got the loose balls, and I thought we did not,” Reel said. “Everytime we made a run, they had an answer. They do a nice job pressuring and if all else fails, they have 6-foot-3 (Lily Bottomley) back there and she does a nice job altering shots.”

The second half was more of the same, as the Indians outscored the Cardinals 31-21.

Seniors Carlie Harmon and Kate Sahli led Canfield with nine points apiece, while Bottomley led all scorers with 16.

“The record is obviously an awesome accomplishment and how far we made it, but what really made it special was this group,” Reel said. “They spent a lot of time with the game and the practices were fun and we’re probably most upset about, not the fact that we lost, but that we don’t practice tomorrow. Our seniors, they did a great job. I thought they set the tone all year. …We met an opponent that was better than us (Friday night), but that doesn’t take away from the tremendous season that we had.”

In the aftermath of the loss, there were plenty of tears, but there were also a lot of smiles.

“It’s been absolutely unimaginable,” senior Carlie Harmon said. “I think this team is really special and we had great chemistry all the way up until this game. It stinks to lose, but I’m really proud of everything that we accomplished.”

This season, the Cardinals went 25-2, finished as regional runner-up and won their first district title in 10 years.

While the loss stings, Canfield has plenty to fondly look back on from a historic, magical season.

“It’s senior year, so it’s hard to end it right now, but I’ve made a lot of friendships and close friends and best friends and friends, forever,” said senior Abby Muckleroy. “Honestly, throughout the whole year, I never thought we would get this far, but I really underestimated this team and I’m so proud of us. I wish we could go on, but I’m glad to end it with them.”