Spartans, 8 others vie for regionals

Boardman takes on
Canton McKinley in a Div. I district final today.

By TOM WILLIAMS

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

Minutes after the Boardman High girls basketball team’s 38-37 upset of top-seeded North Canton Hoover on Thursday, a smile spread across Spartans senior Courtney Schiffauer’s face.

Told she had at least one more practice before her varsity career ends, Schiffauer said, “I don’t mind — I don’t like having days off, to tell you the truth.”

Schiffauer doesn’t have one today because her Spartans have advanced to the Division I district final at Alliance High School. At 1 p.m., surprising Boardman (16-7) will play Canton McKinley for the regional berth.

Eight other Mahoning Valley teams are competing today in district finals. At least three will advance to the regional.

Also in Div. I, third-seeded Howland takes on second-seeded Shaker Heights at 1 p.m. at Solon High.

In Div. II, top-seeded Canfield will play fourth-seeded Salem at 1 p.m. at Austintown Fitch High. It will be the third time the Cardinals and Quakers have met, with each side owning a victory.

This is Canfield’s first season in Div. II since 2001 when the Cardinals advanced to the state title game. Four years ago, the Quakers were state semifinalists.

Speaking of Canfield, South Range coach Matt Reel has his Raiders contending for a regional berth in just his second season in North Lima. Reel was freshman coach at Canfield for nine seasons before becoming a varsity coach.

The top-seeded Raiders will have their hands full with Rootstown in the Div. III district final at Mineral Ridge High at 2 p.m. Rootstown, the second seed, eliminated Crestview on Thursday.

Also in Div. III, second-seeded Brookfield, the winners of the Trumbull Athletic Conference, takes on top-seeded Maplewood at Ashtabula Lakeside at 6 p.m.

In Div. IV, two Inter-Tri-County League Tier Two teams — McDonald and Leetonia — will meet again, this time at Hubbard High at 1 p.m.

The beauty of these games is the passion on display.

Take Boardman’s one-point victory over Hoover that came 19 days after the Spartans were embarrassed by 27 points by the Vikings.

“I’ve been fired up since [that 69-42 loss],” said Spartans coach Ron Moschella, his voice quivering. “We even worked on the snow days. We had two eight-hour days and the kids never complained. I bought them dinner.”

The motivation?

“They wanted to win,” Moschella said. “Our kids never gave up. They willed this win. They told me, ‘Coach, we never want to be embarrassed like that again.’ ”

Should the Spartans win today, it will be their third regional trip in nine seasons and the first since 2005 when they advanced to state. Schiffauer was a freshman starter on Boardman’s only team to play in Columbus.

“It was really exciting when I was a freshman, but I really didn’t know what was going on,” Schiffauer said. “I just followed everyone.

“But now that I’m the senior and the leader on the team, it’s really exciting because I’m leading ... and I hope that we [keep going].”

The Spartans advanced by limiting Hoover seniors Brittany Orban and Kyle Baumgartner to 10 and three points, respectively.

“They beat us with their big people,” Moschella said of the blowout. “I refused to let that happen again.”

In the regular season, the third-seeded Spartans split with second-seeded Canton McKinley.

williams@vindy.com