Lakota West played aggressively against Boardman

By MARK ZNIDAR

COLUMBUS — Boardman coach Ron Moschella was gracious in giving West Chester Lakota West its due.

He praised star players Amber Gray, Alexis Rogers and their supporting cast. He said the Firebirds had too many players and too much talent for his team.

Most of all, the veteran coach was as diplomatic as he could be after Boardman lost 62-42 to Lakota West in a Division I state tournament semifinal Friday night at Value City Arena.

Moschella, though, couldn’t help but broadly hint that the officials let the game get too physical, and that turned out to be a distinct advantage for the Firebirds.

“I think it was very physical and I don’t think we were very physical,’’ he said. “That’s the way the game was played. If you let our kids play, we’re OK.’’

A reporter asked if Lakota West “pushed’’ the Spartans out of their offense with aggressive play beyond the 3-point arc.

“Push us?’’ Moschella said. “You used the right word. They pushed us.’’

Senior Courtney Schiffauer and Darryce Moore, Boardman’s top inside players, were in foul trouble from the start. Schiffauer picked up her third foul in the first half and fouled out with 5 minutes, 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Moore fouled out eight seconds earlier.

Schiffauer was gallant playing her final high school game. She scored 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting and had six rebounds. No one else reached double figures in scoring.

The Spartans (19-8) were holding their own until Lakota West (26-1) ran off 14 straight points to lead, 21-8, with 7:03 left in the second quarter.

“I think they were just very physical and a lot of our game is inside,’’ Schiffauer said. “We might have panicked a little. I think we played really hard. I’m sad that it’s over.’’

Boardman spent the rest of the game trying to catch up, and that’s next to impossible against a Lakota West team that’s defeated two-time defending Division I state champion Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame and top-ranked Dublin Coffman.

A lay-up by Moore cut the deficit to 34-24 at halftime. But the Firebirds sprinted to a 44-27 lead after three quarters with a 10-3 run, the last basket coming on a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer by Gray.

Gray, who led her team in scoring with 20 points, said individual honors don’t matter to her.

“I want that state championship,’’ she said. “I want that ring. We’re a true team. We’re not just two or three players. We’re 16 deep.’’

It was a dog day for Spartans fans as well. Several busloads of fans were turned back en route on orders from school superintendent Frank Lazzeri when it took he and wife Charleen 5 1/2 hours to make the trip.

“It wasn’t pretty,’’ Lazzeri said. “It was a labor of love to get here. It was a harrowing experience. Mainly it was glazed roads.’’

Charleen Lazzeri counted 20 cars that ran off the highway.

The Spartans were emotional after the game, but were proud of a run that got them into their second state tournament since 2005.

“No one gave us any credit,’’ Schiffauer said. “No one thought we’d come close to state. We fought hard.’’

Guard Katie Fiffick, a junior, said the team dedicated itself going into the tournament.

“We took things real seriously,’’ she said. “We practiced as hard as we could.’’

Moschella said the turning point was a 69-42 loss to North Canton Hoover the final game of the regular season. The Spartans took it personally.

“We put a sign in the locker room that we had 21 days to play them again,’’ he said. “We said we wouldn’t be embarrassed like that again. We worked hard.’’

Later, the coach thanked the Boardman community that braved the terrible weather to support the team.

“The kids are really thankful for the support of the Boardman community,” Moschella said, “to come in this kind of weather. It meant a lot to all of us to have all those people in the stands.”

XMark Znidar is a sports writer for The (Columbus) Dispatch. He was gracious enough to help out when the Vindicator staff couldn’t reach Columbus.