Boardman zones out Howland

A slow-down offense took Howland out of its rhythm, then Ashlee Russo took over.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CANTON -- When the Boardman High girls basketball team jumped out to an early 12-1 lead against Howland, Spartan coach Ron Moschella knew exactly what he wanted to do.
Changing tactics to slow down the game and force the Tigers out of their zone defense, the Spartans put the ball into junior Ashlee Russo's hands and the result was a 48-35 Boardman victory in the Division I regional semifinal Tuesday night at the Memorial Civic Center.
The victory put the Spartans (19-5) into the championship game Friday against Cleveland East Tech (22-2), which defeated previously unbeaten Hudson 66-56 in the other semifinal.
Stopped playing: "When we got the big lead we just stopped playing until they came out of that box-and-one zone," said Moschella. "We wanted to keep their big people out of the game as much as we could."
The Spartans were successful at shutting down Howland's 6-foot-3 senior Angela Cape and 6-3 sophomore Michelle Rura. In the first half they were just 1-for-11 combined from the field and three points.
"We expected Boardman to slow the game down with the lead, but what we didn't expect is for our two inside players to go 1-for-11 from the field," said Howland coach John Diehl. "It wasn't that they weren't taking good shots, just nothing would fall."
Once the Spartans got the lead, Russo took over. The 5-8 junior led all scorers with 23 points and she went 15-of-17 at the foul line. She made 12-of-14 foul shots in the fourth quarter.
Excellent tournament: In the last three games, Russo has 81 points and is 44-of-52 at the line.
Freshman Amber Bland led the Spartans in the first half, scoring 12 of her 14 points, including 10 in the first quarter.
Cape led Howland (22-3), which had its 22-game winning streak snapped, with 11 points, including eight in the fourth quarter.
"Angela Cape is a great player and we didn't want her to be a factor in this game," Moschella said.
Cape was in foul trouble for much of the contest, getting her third personal with 5 minutes, 15 seconds remaining in the second period, and her fourth with 4:11 to go in the third quarter.
Boardman took control from the outset of the game. The Spartans' 12-1 lead came with 3:15 remaining in the first quarter. Bland had eight points.
The Spartans led 18-9 at the end of the first quarter, as Howland made just 4-of-13 shots. Boardman led 27-13 at halftime and 31-17 after three quarters.
In the fourth period, Howland was forced to foul. Most of the time the target was Russo, who was almost automatic.
Russo scored 12 of Boardman's 17 points in the final period. The Spartans made just one field goal and took only five shots in the final eight minutes.
East Tech 66, Hudson 56: Barbara Turner scored 25 points and Juwanna Rivers added 19 as Cleveland East Tech snapped Hudson's 23-game unbeaten streak in the opening game.
Hudson led throughout most of the first half, until the Scarabs took control in the third quarter. Rivers scored 15 of her 19 points in the final period.