Boardman battles, but falls to McKinley

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

BOARDMAN — Boardman played its best game of the season Friday night, but the Spartans still lost.

The Spartans battled Canton McKinley down to the wire before suffering a 58-50 setback in the Federal League opener for both teams.

Boardman (2-2, 0-1 Federal) led only once in the contest and trailed by as many as 16 points in the third quarter but battled back and got to within six points before bowing.

“It’s hard to say that it was our best game because we lost,” said Boardman head coach Jim Goske. “But it was definitely the best four quarters that we’ve put together this year.”

Turnovers were the big problem for the Spartans, especially in the first half when they turned the ball over 16 times and finished with 22 on the night.

“Those turnovers were very costly in the first half,” Goske said. “I told our kids that if we had cut those in half and made just eight we might have won this game.”

Canton McKinley (2-0, 1-0) made just 11 turnovers in the contest and their pressure defense took its toll on the Spartans in the first half.

“Give Canton McKinley credit, they put the pressure on like they always do and we just didn’t handle it very well during the first half,” Goske added.

Boardman junior Devron Martin took game-high scoring honors with 20 points, but he had 15 of those in the first half before the Bulldogs clamped down on him in the second half. Senior Frank Curtis came off the bench to score 12 points for the Spartans.

Terrell Lipkins and sophomore Joe Gross each tossed in 16 points to lead the Bulldogs.

The Spartans battled the Bulldogs early despite turning the ball over eight times in the first quarter. Martin gave the Spartans their only lead of the game when he hit Boardman’s lone 3-point shot of the night with 40 seconds left in the quarter for a 10-9 lead. McKinley countered with a basket by Stoney Lockett and a free throw with the final seconds to regain the lead 12-10 at the quarter.

The Spartans were still within four points 24-20 with 3:20 left in the half, but McKinley outscored them 8-3 over the rest of the half to take a 33-25 lead at intermission.

Boardman came out stone cold in the third quarter missing their first six shots and the Bulldogs went on a 9-1 run to pull to a 42-26 lead with 5:34 remaining in the quarter.

“We had some good looks at the basket in the quarter, but we just couldn’t make anything,” Goske said.

But the Spartans came back behind Curtis who scored five straight points and Boardman went on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 44-34.

Martin scored his only two baskets in the second half in the final quarter and his second one brought the Spartans to within six points 51-45 with just over three minutes left.

McKinley just wouldn’t let the Spartans get closer and Lipkins’ second 3-point goal with just over a minute left put the Bulldogs back up by nine 56-47.

Jamon McClain two free throws in the final seconds upped the lead to 10 points and Eric Soller’s basket in the final 15 seconds cut the final margin to eight.