GIRLS BASKETBALL Irish-Spartans rivalry on hold

Neither Ursuline nor Boardman wants to play the other on the road.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
For the first time in more than 25 years, Ursuline and Boardman will not play a girls basketball game this season.
And nobody is happy about it.
"I think it's an absolute shame," Ursuline coach Sean Durkin said.
"I wish we could have played," Boardman coach Ron Moschella said.
Problem is, neither team wants to play another road game.
The Spartans play just seven of their 20 games this season at home and Boardman athletic director Dave Smercansky said he cannot afford to play another road game. Ursuline has 10 home games.
"We had a date and everything set to play at our place and they turned it down," Smercansky said. "They said we had to come to their place and there's just no way."
Boardman's gymnasium has more seats, which translates into higher ticket sales, Moschella said. Smercansky offered the Irish a portion of the gate, but Ursuline turned the offer down.
Irish athletic director Jim Maughan said that since the last meeting was played in Boardman, the next game should be played at Ursuline.
"Common sense dictates that if the last game was played there, the next game should be played here," Maughan said. "We also offered to play two games, with the first game here, but they said no."
Strong tradition
Last year's games drew record crowds as thousands of fans came to see the area's two best players -- Boardman's Amber Bland and Ursuline's Courtney Davidson -- square off.
The Spartans have won nine straight over the Irish, including both meetings last season.
"How many girls get the chance to play in front of 2,000 people?" Durkin said. "I feel bad for them. Some girls will go play in college and never play in front of a crowd like that."
There were rumors that the teams would play a Dec. 19 game at Beeghly Center prior to the Youngstown State women's game against Clemson, but Smercansky said he has never been involved in the talks.
"To play at YSU, there had to be some guarantee of revenue and knowing YSU and knowing how much they charge, we weren't going to make much money, if any at all," Smercansky said.
"The whole thing comes down to this: I need home games. We need a certain number of home games to come as close to breaking even on the budget as possible."
Both sides expressed regret over the situation, but neither side was willing to budge.
"I think the major losers are the fans in the area who are really attached to girls basketball," Maughan said. "But as far as I'm concerned, we played there last. Why do we have to go there again?"
scalzo@vindy.com