Boardman gets ticket punched for Columbus

Boardman defeated Stow to give veteran coach Ron Moschella his first state berth.
CANTON -- In his first 23 years of coaching girls basketball, Ron Moschella took 12 Boardman High teams to regional tournaments and none to state.
Say hello to Lucky 13.
Trailing 32-24 in the third quarter, the Spartans (22-3) outscored Stow 27-10 down the stretch to capture Boardman's first state appearance with a 51-42 victory Friday at the Canton Civic Center.
"I never dreamt of getting to the state championship; I don't coach for state championships," Moschella said. "I coach because I love to coach kids, to teach kids -- it's a great feeling."
Senior forward Jessie Moore's third-quarter performance triggered Boardman's comeback.
After the Spartans began the second half by missing their first three shots while turning the ball over twice, Moore soared, finishing the quarter with seven points, six rebounds and a steal.
Has it sunk in?
"Not yet, not yet, I'm still pumped," Moore said after scoring 14 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. "Maybe a couple hours later ..."
Overcoming foul trouble
What made Moore's accomplishment even more impressive was how she sat out the last nine minutes of the first half after picking up two fouls in the first quarter.
"That hurt us bad," said Moschella of benching Moore's leadership skills. "But she gets mad."
She took it out on the Bulldogs.
Of the longest nine minutes of her life, Moore said, "It was real tough -- oh my goodness, yes it was -- but I had faith. I was mad at myself for picking up those stupid fouls."
Trailing 24-22 at halftime, Moschella was caught off guard by his team's reaction.
"I went into the locker room and saw a lot of long faces," he said, "and I just told them to sit up straight and start smiling -- we weathered the storm with Jessie sitting. Our kids were disgruntled and I didn't understand that because that's not our kids.
"In the second half, they played real smart basketball. Stow made a great run and we answered right back. Our kids hit their foul shots in the end," Moschella said. "Brittany Sirak was just tremendous."
Pulling away
In the fourth quarter, the Spartans and Bulldogs (24-2) each made two baskets. The difference was at the foul line where the Bulldogs made three and the Spartans 11.
Six of those were by Sirak, the senior guard who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury playing soccer last August and recovered in four months to play basketball.
"This is so unlikely, but look what we did," Sirak said. "[Moschella] just wanted us to not lose our composure under such pressure. He's been coaching for 24 years and we're just glad to get him this gift -- he deserves it."
Stow coach Bob Podges blamed miss opportunities for his team's second loss.
"In a big game, you have to make free throws and easy shots," Podges said. "We didn't do either.
"In the third quarter, they made some nice perimeter shots and that opened up the inside," Podges said.
Junior point guard Colleen Mallis and freshman forward Courtney Schiffhauer scored eight points apiece, Sirak seven and senior center Emily Hays and junior forward April Melquist six each.
Outscored 7-2 to begin the game, the Spartans settled down to post an 8-0 run triggered by two free throws by Melquist and baskets by Moore, Hays and Schiffhauer.
Baskets by Melquist and Moore extended Boardman's lead to 14-9 when Moore suffered her second personal foul.
Trailing 16-11 to start the second quarter, the Bulldogs took the lead on sophomore guard Liana Jennings' rebound and end-to-end layup, a basket by senior post Sarah Drabinski and two free throws by senior guard Cyla Hawkins.
Jennings scored 18 and Hawkins 10 for Stow.