Defense provides lift for Spartans

Boardman forced 26 turnovers in its 58-40 win over Austintown Fitch.
AUSTINTOWN -- The full-court pressure defense of Boardman High was the big difference in its 58-40 win over host Austintown Fitch on Saturday afternoon in the Federal League opener for both schools.
Boardman, which forced 26 turnovers, went out to a 6-0 lead on a field goal by Jessica Moore and two baskets by April Melquist and never looked back.
The Falcons, on a Courtney Williams field goal, cut the Boardman lead to 9-8 with 2:25 remaining in the first quarter, but a 7-0 run keyed by a Lauren Sirak 3-pointer had the Spartans leading 16-8 to close the quarter.
Moore scored on a three-point play and Melquist drilled a long 3-pointer, building the Boardman lead to 22-10 with 5:54 remaining in the first half. The first half, which saw Fitch commit 15 of their 26 turnovers, ended with Boardman on top 27-16.
Mallis hot in second half
The second half -- which had the 6-0 senior, Moore, sitting out most of the third quarter -- saw 5-5 junior point guard Coleen Mallis score 10 of her 12 points. Mallis, who also had seven assists and four steals, was a featured performer on both sides of the court for the Spartans.
"I don't look for points as long as I can get down the court and set up people," Mallis said, "and on defense, contribute to stopping the other guys from scoring."
Ron Moschella, in his 24th season as coach at Boardman, praised Mallis and fellow guard, 5-8 senior Liz Yazbeck.
"Yazbeck played a complete game on defense, doing the little things that upset Fitch's offense," he said. "Our defensive pressure was the difference as it created offense for us. But give Fitch credit, they played hard, they never gave up and they did a good job of breaking our pressure."
Moore finished with a game-high 14 points and grabbed 10 of her team's 31 rebounds.
"My main goal isn't to score, it is to rebound, and if that is happening it is good for us," Moore said.
Melquist, averaging 23 points per game this season, also finished in double figures with 12 points.
"It surely wasn't my best game, but the team stepped up to win this one," she said.
Boardman improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Federal League. Fitch fell to 2-3 and 0-1.
The Falcons were led by 6-0 senior Krista Mayes and 5-8 sophomore Caitlin O'Patchen, with 10 points each. Mayes also had three blocked shots and 10 of her team's 24 rebounds.
Fitch coach John Hudson, in his first season, plays four juniors and a sophomore in his starting lineup.
"I am proud of our effort against a great program, but we must get better fundamentally," he said. "We had too many turnovers and they had too many second and third shots, because we didn't box out well."