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Spartans rally for Moschella
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SHOOTS FOR TWO: boardman High's Erin Brown, left, goes up for a shot as Ursuline's Chase Connors defends in the first half of Monday's girls basketball game. The Spartans won the game, 51-38.
By Joe Scalzo
Boardman’s coach was injured in the game, but his team rallied past Ursuline.
YOUNGSTOWN — In a matter of hours, Boardman High girls assistant Jeff Hammerton went from being a guy who nearly stayed home because of a sick kid to being the interim head coach surrounded by a group of nervous teenagers with tears in their eyes.
“It was tough,” he said.
Fortunately for him, his players got tough.
After Spartans coach Ron Moschella collided with an official and was forced to leave Monday’s game at Ursuline midway through the third quarter, Hammerton gathered his team in the locker room — “They thought he had a heart attack,” he said — gave them a chance to calm down and put that nervous energy to use.
He switched from a zone defense to a three-quarter trap, sparking a big run that turned a close game into a 51-38 victory.
“We were motivated to finish the game for him [Moschella],” said junior Monica Touvelle, who scored 10 of her 18 points in the second half.
Moschella collided with the official with 5:48 left in the third quarter, falling to the ground and hitting his head on the hardwood. He blacked out for a few seconds but was able to sit up and left the court with the aid of two officials. He wanted to finish the game — “[Senior forward] Erin Brown has hit me way harder in practice,” he told his assistants — and was in the locker room after the game holding an ice bag on his head.
“I’ll be at school [today],” Moschella said.
While he was out, Boardman went on an 18-4 run to open up a 17-point lead with three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Junior Darryce Moore, an Ohio State recruit, finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds and four steals — all game-highs — as the Spartans (7-3) played one of their best games of the season.
“We’ve had a lot of heart-to-heart talks and we’ve been finding ourselves,” said Hammerton. “Everyone has been trying to find their role.”
That includes Moschella, who switched to his inner angel in a game against Canton GlenOak last week, tossing around compliments instead of criticism. (Two administrators in the stands counted 39 compliments, prompting one to remark that there was so much sweetness he “got diabetes.” The remark drew a huge laugh from Moschella.)
After a so-so start, Boardman has found a consistent seven-player rotation and its starting five played huge minutes (and played well in those minutes) against the Irish.
“We’re starting to improve as a whole,” said Touvelle. “Ursuline is a good rival and we really wanted to play well and get a win.”
The Irish (5-3), meanwhile, hadn’t played since beating Akron Hoban 16 days ago and couldn’t match the Spartans’ energy, particularly in the second half.
“It’s kind of been our nemesis all year,” said Ursuline coach Sean Durkin. “We play good for three quarters or good for two quarters and then we hit a lull.
“We just take a mental vacation.”
Junior Lucia Petrus had 10 points, freshman Aurielle Irizarry had eight points and a team-high four rebounds and junior Kaneesha Tensley had six points, three rebounds, three assists and four steals for the Irish, who have good talent but haven’t yet been able to put it together.
Ursuline’s three losses have been to good teams — the others were to Perry and South Euclid Regina — and the schedule doesn’t get any easier in the second half of the season.
“We schedule that way for a reason,” Durkin said. “But we can’t just play with tough teams, we’ve got to learn how to beat them.”
scalzo@vindy.com