Staff photo / Dan Hiner. Howland’s Mackenzie Scrabis, left, looks to pass while driving the baseline during a game against Canfield on Thursday at Howland High School.

HOWLAND — The Howland girls basketball teams started off Thursday’s game well. But things quickly turned at Howland High School.

Turnovers doomed the Tigers in the second and third quarters, and they fell 66-39 to Canfield.

“We’ve been sick, getting over some flu just like everybody else. We haven’t had a couple hard days of practice. We’ve just been trying to get everybody healthy,” Howland head coach Aaron Pounds said. “I think that affected us tonight. We looked out of shape and we’re not very deep.”

That meant Howland’s squad of non-seniors had to do battle with an experienced group of Cardinals. But the Tigers held their own the first eight minutes.

The Tigers got some early offense and scored six of the first eight points of the game. But Carly Fleming tied the game with a pair of steals, which she converted for layups.

Canfield (13-2, 3-0 AAC) scored six straight points to take a 15-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, and once it got the lead, the defense took over.

The Cardinals’ press started to pay off. They started forcing turnovers around the halfcourt line, kickstarting an 11-0 run that increased their lead to 26-14. That allowed the Cardinals to gain control and take a 31-17 lead into the break.

“We need practice handling pressure. We don’t handle pressure very well against most teams,” Pounds said. “Once we get better at handling pressure, we’ll be better. And that comes with experience and age too.”

Canfield’s defense continued to play well to start the second half. The Tigers were held off the board for the first three minutes of the third quarter, all the while, the Cardinals extended their lead.

“When our pressure got more active when we were in the halfcourt, I thought we got more active too,” Canfield head coach Matt Reel said. “They did a really nice job of putting people in places we weren’t used to. I was proud of how we adapted, putting people in the right places. And they fixed a lot of things themselves on the court.”

Howland (2-11, 1-1 AAC) started getting some shots to fall in the closing minutes of the third, but Canfield held a 52-27 lead at the end of the quarter.

Then both teams cleared their benches with 2:14 remaining in the fourth.

The Tigers got 14 points from Talia Rishel, and Maya Kubancsek also reached double-digit points with 13.

Canfield’s Jenna Triveri scored 16 points to lead all scorers. Sophia Castronova added 15 points, and Carly Fleming finished with 11.

Wednesday’s win was the fourth straight for the Cardinals, and defense has played a big part in their recent success.

During their four-game winning streak, the Cardinals have held their opponents to 29.5 points per game. And against the Tigers, forcing 19 turnovers helped continue that defensive dominance.

Meanwhile, Pounds and the Tigers were coming off a win over Lakeview. They have a pair of AAC games coming up as they travel to Fitch on Saturday and host Boardman on Wednesday.

“I think Canfield is obviously one of the best teams in the area. They have two head coaches on that team, and their experience showed tonight,” Pounds said. “I hope they do well, I hope they go deep into the playoffs. If there’s a team that can make a run in the playoffs, I think it’s gonna be them. Division III’s a tough division, and they’re towards the bottom of it, but man, they’re fast.”