Spartans pull away from Jackson in FL win

By John Bassetti

BOARDMAN — It won’t be known as the stall of the century, but it may give observers reason to pause.

When Doriyon Glass was given orders to hold the ball after Angie Studebaker’s 3-point goal pulled Massillon Jackson within 15-14 with 6:30 remaining in the second quarter, the Polar Bears balked.

The action — or lack of it — drew jeers from the visiting Jackson fan gallery and thumb-twiddling from everyone else at Boardman’s gym Saturday afternoon.

The strategy continued until Boardman (8-1, 4-0 Federal League) called a timeout with 0:17 remaining before halftime. The Spartans’ scoreless second period was soon forgotten as Boardman returned to normal in the second half and won, 45-30.

Coach Ron Moschella said he stalled because three of his main players: Glass, Kayleigh Lipke and Darryce Moore had two personal fouls.

“If he [Jackson coach Harold Fisher] would have played with us, we would have played,” Moschella said. “But he didn’t come out, so I was playing for the second half.”

It wasn’t the first time Moschella used a stall, a term he objects to.

“I don’t know if it’s a stall. That’s our offense. They sat in that zone and didn’t come after us,” Moschella said. “Did you notice that when they came after us [in the fourth quarter], they couldn’t defend us. They packed their zone in, but I wanted to bring that out. Eventually, they had to come out when they fell behind. Then, they couldn’t stop our people going to the hole. That’s why we do it.”

Moore finished with 15 points, while Monica Touvelle added 10.

Jackson (7-6, 2-3 FL) led only a handful of times, the last at 27-25 after three periods.

Then the Spartans swarmed Jackson with a man-to-man halfcourt defense and outscored the Polar Bears, 20-3, in the fourth period.

“We were confused on our matchup zone, so we went man and I thought that was pretty good against them,” Moschella said of a second-half call made by assistant coach Christine Terlesky. “It freed up Doriyon [Glass] to use her athleticism.”

Early in the fourth quarter, Moore blocked two shots, Glass made a basket off of a steal and Brooke Meenachan had a steal and layup as the Spartans shot ahead, 37-27.

Fisher defended his decision not to cover Boardman in the second quarter.

“I felt if we went in [to halftime] down one against Boardman, that that was a success for us because we told our kids that we could play with them,” he said. “But we had two of our post people with two fouls apiece. I knew he had players in foul trouble, so, I think it kind of canceled each other out.

“We were happy with where we were at, so we said that we were going to stay back and we showed a lot of discipline to do that,” added Fisher.

Fisher said Boardman’s defense turned the tide in the final quarter.

“They did a good job, defensively, by making it tough to enter the ball, offensively. But we broke down a little bit there and I think that was the big turning point for us.”

The coach said his offensive strategy worked the first three quarters.

“Everything we wanted to do fell into place. But I think they made some adjustments in that fourth quarter and we just didn’t answer them. We turned the ball over too many times. I think five times in a row down the floor, we turned the ball over.”

Brittney Terrell led Jackson with 12 points.

bassetti@vindy.com