Alliance intrigue, A-town showdown highlight tourneys

By Joe Scalzo

Boardman High girls basketball coach Ron Moschella walked out of Sunday’s Division I tournament draw with a smile on his face, secure in the knowledge that the only two teams to beat him in the district over the last eight years — Canton McKinley and North Canton Hoover — were safely on the other side of the bracket.

“I thought we came out of it pretty good,” he admitted after earning the third seed in the 13-team tournament. “You have to play the games, obviously, but we’re hoping to at least get to the district semis.”

McKinley earned the top seed and seventh-seeded Hoover jumped into the Bulldogs’ bracket, setting up a possible district semfiinal showdown between the teams.

“Obviously McKinley is the team to beat,” said Moschella, whose team lost to the Bulldogs 50-26 on Dec. 20. “Then I see Hoover up there and they’re just lying in wait.

“They’re like a quiet dog.”

Since 2000, Hoover has won five district titles and Boardman four. The two teams have played eight times over that stretch and split the four meetings. The one exception was 2006 when the Spartans fell to McKinley in the district semis.

“Hoover has taken a whipping this year, but they’ve played everyone you could possibly play,” said Moschella, whose team is 11-5. “They don’t duck anybody.”

As for his own team, Moschella is optimistic. Several players return from last year’s state semifinal team and that experience will help.

“Our one nemesis is breaking the press,” said Moschella. “We haven’t figured it out as a team. We’ve got good size, so teams are making us play 95 feet. Hopefully we can straighten things out.

“It should be an interesting tournament.”

In the Div. I tournament at Solon, defending district champion Howland (15-0) earned the second seed and Warren Harding (12-2) was sixth.

In Div. II, Salem (12-3) earned the top seed in the Fitch district and Canfield (9-7) was second.

No surprise there. The teams split their regular season meetings, with the Quakers winning Saturday’s rematch in Salem, 46-39. They also played in last year’s district final, with the Cardinals winning 36-30.

“We feel pretty good about where we are,” said Salem coach Jeff Andres. “We’ll see how it goes. Anything can happen and you’ve got to be ready to play every night.”

As for a Canfield-Salem trilogy, Andres said, “If it works out that way, great. It’d be great to have a tiebreaker on neutral ground.”

If it happens, it would pit two of the best juniors in the Mahoning Valley in Quaker forward Amy Scullion and Cardinal guard Jillian Halfhill.

“We thought we [Canfield and Salem] were the two best teams and we thought the seeding would come down to [Saturday’s game],” said Cardinals coach Pat Pavlansky, who voted Salem No. 1. “We’ve got to play a couple out-of-town teams which makes us a little nervous.

“I think it’ll be a nice tournament.”

In Division III, Inter Tri-County League Tier One rivals United (14-1) and Crestview (12-2) grabbed the top two spots. The teams meet in their final two games of the regular season, meaning they could play three times in a month.

Ursuline (5-7), which has played a brutal schedule and is considered by many to be the most dangerous team in the tournament, was seeded seventh.

In Div. IV, ITCL Tier Two rivals Lowellville (11-3) and McDonald (10-4) were 1-2. The Rockets won the first matchup between the teams 53-48.

scalzo@vindy.com