Boardman outlasts Fitch on Hosa's last-second free throws

By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
Vindicator Correspondent
BOARDMAN -- All that was missing in the Boardman-Fitch game Tuesday night were the throwback jerseys.
It was like old times as the two rivals battled the entire game before Boardman's T.J. Hosa sealed the 52-51 win for the Spartans by making two free throws with 1.7 seconds remaining.
"This is how I always remember Boardman-Fitch games," said first-year Spartans coach Jared Cardillo who played in the rivalry as a member of Tom Fender's Falcons in the 1990's. "It was a great game. It's too bad someone had to lose."
The game was a non-conference matchup although both schools are members of the Federal League. The league contest will be played later in the year at Austintown.
First-year Fitch coach Roger Day echoed those feelings about the game and the rivalry saying, "This is what Boardman-Fitch is all about."
Fitch led most of the way
Both teams were coming off tough Federal League losses but the Falcons had the best of the Spartans for most of the game holding slight leads until midway through the fourth quarter.
Boardman grabbed its first lead since 9-7 early in the first period at 50-49 on a 3-point basket by Jon Kocon at 4:10 of the fourth quarter.
Both teams failed to score for nearly the next four minutes as both defenses stepped up their play even more down the stretch.
The Spartans missed the front ends of a couple of one-and-one free throw situations in the last minute of play that could have given Boardman a bigger lead.
Pulled in front
With Fitch trailing 50-49, Day called time out and set up a beautiful inbounds play that enabled James Wallace to grab the ball near the basket and lay it in with 14.4 seconds left to retake the lead 51-50.
Boardman had one last chance and Kocon took a shot from right of the basket that missed it's mark but Hosa grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 1.7 seconds as he attempted to score the winning basket.
"T.J. Hosa is used to pressure," said Cardillo. "I felt comfortable with him at the line because he is a kid that is mentally even keeled."
Both free throws found the bottom of the net and Fitch couldn't get off a shot in the final 1.7.
"The kids played hard on both sides," said a disappointed Day. "I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
"I'm proud of the fact that the kids bounced back after the McKinley loss but the fact is we still need to get better."
Wallace leads Fitch
The Falcons were led by Wallace who scored a game high 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Wallace grabbed the attention of Boardman defenders wherever he went and had to work hard for his shots.
Spartan defenders Eric Johnson, Dan Kubala and Nick Shirilla did their best to deny Wallace the ball anyway they could.
Offensively, Boardman was led by Johnson who had 12 points and seven rebounds.
"He might be the best 6-1 big man in the area," Cardillo said. "He does whatever he can to stop guys a lot bigger than him."
Kocon chipped in with 11 points for Boardman while Ed Deluca added 9 points and Jeff Olenych 7.
"You have to give Fitch credit," Cardillo said. "They came ready to play and we didn't play until the end.
"We knew they would be competitive and we didn't match their intensity for most of the game."