Glass has career night for Boardman

Vindicator staff report

AUSTINTOWN — After Boardman senior guard Doriyon Glass tore her ACL for the third time last year, few people expected her to play basketball again.

And her coach wasn’t one of them.

“To be honest, we didn’t want her to come back,” said Spartans coach Ron Moschella, who still worries she’ll suffer a fourth tear. “She has a lot of guts.

“A lot of kids would quit. She just loves basketball too much.”

On Wednesday night, Glass was rewarded for the months of rehabilitation with the type of game high school players dream about.

She scored a career-high 26 points to help the visiting Spartans roll past Federal League rival Fitch 81-30.

“She played a really tremendous game,” Moschella said. “She’s still learning how to play but her athleticism is unbelievable.

“She’s got a great jump shot, she plays so hard all the time and she’s such an unbelievable kid.”

Glass, the daughter of former Youngstown State standout Dorothy Bowers, has cracked the varsity lineup since she was a freshman but hasn’t been able to stay there because of the injuries.

Although the Spartans have Division I players Darryce Moore (Ohio State) and Monica Touvelle (YSU) who have both been playing varsity for four years, Moschella said Glass has become the team leader.

“We call her captain and that’s what she is,” he said. “She hasn’t been around but her teammates have accepted her in that role.

“Everyone is willing to accept her direction and her leadership. She’s a coach on the floor. She plays so hard and it makes everyone else play hard.”

And when they don’t play hard, Moschella reminds them that Glass is giving full effort after three knee surgeries.

“We’ve pointed that,” he said, chuckling. “It’s the truth.

“She runs the team. I coach it, but she runs it. It’s her team and she had a great game tonight.”

Touvelle added 16 points and Moore 15 for the Spartans (3-1, 2-0), who led 34-8 at halftime.

Marissa Mattozzie had eight points for Fitch (2-4, 0-3).

“I think Fitch played hard, as hard as they can play,” Moschella said. “They only had eight at halftime and they ended up with 30, so that tells you something.

“They could have packed it in but they didn’t.”

Moschella has seen his share of ACL tears through the years — all three of his daughters had the injury — and one of his former players, Michigan State guard Courtney Schiffauer, recently tore her ACL and is lost for the season.

“I told her, ‘Doriyon is playing for us and she has three tears,’” Moschella said. “She said, ‘I can’t believe she can do that.’

“It takes a special person.”