Tuesday, November 28, 2006
The Spartans also have several instrumental freshmen, including Doryice Moore, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds in her first varsity game.
By JOHN BASSETTI
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jack Bermann had an easy time coaching in the fourth quarter because all he could do was watch.
The Cardinal Mooney coach watched as Boardman piled up the points en route to a 77-41 season-opening victory Monday night at Mooney's gym.
"Courtney Schiffauer is a great player," Bermann said of the game's leading scorer. "She's going to give people in this area and in the Federal League fits."
The 6-foot-1 junior had 32 points, but Boardman is more than a one-man show this season. Doryice Moore, a 6-1 freshman, scored 20 points in her first varsity game. She also had five steals and two blocked shots.
"She's a diamond in the rough," Boardman coach Ron Moschella said of Moore, who grabbed 12 of Boardman's 49 rebounds. Schiffauer added eight caroms, while Staci Wahlman, the only starting senior in Monday's lineup, had seven rebounds.
"She worked hard in the summer," Moschella said of Moore, "and her mother takes her to a lot of camps."
Schiffauer, however, has more speed.
"She just took over in the first half," Moschella said of Schiffauer. "They couldn't stop her. Then they clogged up the middle on her. She gets the ball to people and means so much to our team. She can score at will."
Boardman's supporting cast was a compilation of mostly young players, although seniors Lyndsie Hall and Makala Gasparek had seven and six points, respectively.
Two other starters were sophomore point guard Katie Fiffick and freshman Monaca Touvelle, while sophomore Samara Sutton came off the bench. Sutton scored only one point but she had a game-high eight steals.
"They're all young and they work hard," Moschella said of the trio.
While Schiffauer and Fiffick put forth extra effort diving for balls, defensively, Gasparek was also outstanding. Twice, Gasparek yanked the ball from the grasp of a Mooney player.
Additional contributions
Gasparek registered six steals, Fiffick had six assists and Schiffauer had four assists and a blocked shot. Touvelle added six points for the Spartans, who built on a 38-12 halftime lead.
As strong as Boardman appears, Moschella has yet to put another freshman on the floor: Doriyon Glass. The daughter of former YSU hall of famer Dorothy Bowers has an ACL injury and won't be ready until late winter.
"She's Amber Bland all over again," Moschella said of comparing Glass to Boardman's former scoring and rebounding all-star.
"Did I say that she's freshman?" Moschella said.
The Spartans connected on 28-of-60 field goals and 19-of-32 free throws. Laura Guyer was Mooney's lone double-digit scorer with 13 points, while 5-10 junior Edna Robinson tacked on nine points.
"At halftime, we tried to get back to being up-tempo," Bermann said. "We want to run the ball up and down the floor. We were doing a good job of doing that, but we were giving them too many home runs going the other way. When we did stop that, then we didn't want to step in front of someone, defensively. In the second half, we challenged them to get in front of people or block them out. We did it at times."
The Mooney coach said that his girls made the effort, but didn't execute, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
"There were times we just didn't execute getting back," Bermann said. "As hard as we were running, we still should have somebody back."
The Cardinals picked off 30 rebounds but committed 33 turnovers.
"The effort was there, but our execution was something to be desired," said Bermann. "We're a work in progress. We have three returning starters [Dayna Daltorio, Sarah Pelini and Alex Woytek], but, basically, we're JVs moving up. There are going to be growing pains. We scheduled this [Boardman] for a reason. We want to see where we are. Now we know where we are and what we've got to work on."
The Cards made 15-of-54 goals and 7-of-13 free throws. Mooney's next game is Monday at Springfield, followed by another on Thursday at Salem.
bassetti@vindy.com