Boardman on a mission

BOARDMAN -- Lest anyone think Boardman High basketball coach Ron Moschella is satisfied with his first regional championship in 24 years of coaching, think again.
"I'm not going down there to take in the atmosphere," he said Monday, referring to Ohio State's St. John Arena, site of this week's state tournament.
The Spartans (22-3) are preparing for their Division I semifinal game against Mount Notre Dame (24-2) of Cincinnati, scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday in Columbus. The other semifinal will pit Sylvania Northview (25-1) and Dayton Chaminade-Julienne (23-2).
Boardman will be widely considered an underdog to Mt. Notre Dame, the defending state champion which finished the season ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll and is No. 13 in the country by USA Today.
That's nothing new for the Spartans.
'Prove everybody wrong'
"It's been an uphill battle for us all year," said Moschella. "Everybody thought we weren't going to be very good, and that's been our motto: 'We want to prove everybody wrong' and they have so far.
"Stow was supposed to kill us and Hoover was supposed to kill us and Mentor was supposed to kill us and Cleveland Central Catholic was supposed to kill us. These kids don't let that happen."
The Spartans began the season with a 68-64 overtime loss to Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, a game that had Moschella questioning how good the team would be. But other than a four-point loss to Canton GlenOak and a three-point setback to Ursuline, Boardman hasn't missed a beat. Among the victories: three over North Canton Hoover and five against teams that won district championships.
"You start nuts and bolts in the beginning fundamentally and you try to improve as you play," said Moschella. "After our first game I was just wondering if we were even going to win a game. After that, we got better every game in some way, some manner."
The irony of this team reaching the state semifinals, when all the others that featured players with marquee value couldn't, hasn't been lost on the coach.
"We didn't face a Barbara Turner, a Katie Smith [in the regionals]," said Moschella, referring to two former Ms. Basketball award winners from Cleveland East Tech and Logan, whose teams ended Boardman seasons in the past.
"Fortunately, I don't think we've met the teams we've met in the past, with the players we've met in the past. But it doesn't take away from what they've accomplished because they beat a great Hoover team three times and I think they play great team basketball. We don't have a great star but everybody contributes."
No star system
Senior Jessica Moore was named second team All-Ohio this week and junior April Melquist was selected honorable mention. They lead the team in scoring -- Moore at 15.1 and Melquist at 11.8.
"Jessie Moore, when she plays angry everybody feels it and knows it and we all play better," said Moschella.
"Brittany Sirak plays with nothing but her heart and her guts and Colleen Mallis is just a steady, cool kind of character that doesn't make too many mistakes. She's been a great surprise as a point guard. We've had great point guards here and she's probably played just like one of the best point guards we've ever had. She's handled this team really well.
"We've had a great run," he added. "It's about luck, it's about team chemistry, it's about hard work, it's about a lot of character, all that stuff enters into it."