The Garfield G-Men girls’ basketball team has used 65 different combinations in their first five games of this season. The G-Men finally found the winning combination with a defensive clinic in the second half to beat Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier foe Campbell Memorial 37-18 for their first victory of the season last Thursday evening in Mahoning County.
“We were close a couple of games and just needed that boost especially coming off of a game against Champion where we were just really outmatched and just could not get things to go our way,” said Coach Aaron Gilbert. “You could kind of just feel some tension and a little sense of relief when we were able to get out of that game with Campbell.”
After a dominating the first half when Garfield (1-4, 1-2) took a commanding 26-13 lead, the G-Men carried that momentum to the defensive end in the third quarter, holding the Red Devils scoreless to extend their lead to 34-13.
According to the 17-year coach, after losing to MVAC Grey Tier foe Champion 58-20 on Dec. 11, the G-Men decided to try a new defensive scheme which had them playing more zone.
“It is just stuff we have done in the past,” he added. “We went back to a zone look that we played in the past and trying to see what players fit into which positions. We are going back-and-forth with what type of zone to play, and I think we dug one out that we have played before.”
Although Garfield only scored 8 points in the third quarter, Gilbert said they executed well defensively by forcing the Red Devils to take difficult shots. The G-Men’s offense hit a lull in the fourth period and were outscored by a 5-3 margin but their defensive dominance in the third quarter made all of the difference.
Despite converting only one field goal in the fourth quarter, Garfield’s defense aheld the Red Devils to only two field goals in the entire second half.
“We are not asking them to come out and make five or six shots in a row,” Gilbert said. “We are talking two or three shots in a row. I think that it is helping us breaking it down into smaller parts as things go and it was nice to see a lot of the things work on Thursday against Campbell.”
Sophomore guard/forward Mandy Cardinal, who scored 16 points in the first half, had a tougher time in the second half because Campbell Memorial’s defense sent an extra defender at her every time she touched the ball. Gilbert added that the 6-foot sophomore also tried to be more of a facilitator and get her teammates involved.
Garfield’s offense has relied heavily on Cardinal at the beginning of this season as she is the only returnee with any significant varsity experience but Gilbert acknowledged that it has been a learning process for her teammates to find their fit on offense.
“I think that was one of our stalemates early in the year,” he noted. “In the first couple of games I think our players were trying a little too much and were trying to replace some of the players from last year. We are not going to replace the players from last year, it is a different style.”
Compared to some of the previous teams that Gilbert has coached, this year’s G-Men squad will need to grind out more games and try and spark their offense through their defense. Garfield may not be as high scoring a squad as before but Gilbert said if they can hold their opponents to 30-40 points per game then they will always have a chance.
Despite a slower second half, Garfield got off to a fast start in the first half when Cardinal ignited things by scoring eight points in the opening period. She continued dictating the G-Men’s offense by adding nine more points in the second period, coming on 3 three-point shots.
Gilbert said that for the first time this season, Cardinal was being more selective with the shots she took and her efficiency paid off, knocking down four 3-pointers in the first half.
“She was getting the right shots and shots that were within the flow of the game,” he said. “Several of the games this year, I just feel like her demeanor has been her looking up at the scoreboard and seeing what the point differential is and feels like ‘Okay I just have to come down and do it.’ It is just not going to work that way for us, but she definitely was able to get herself into some kind of rhythm.”
After a road game against MVAC Grey Tier rival Newton Falls on Thursday night, the G-Men will return to the court after the Christmas holiday and host Austintown-Fitch at the JAG Fieldhouse on Dec. 28 at 11:30 a.m.
