Boardman rules the Fed

By Tom Williams

The Spartans put an exclamation point on the regular season with a 63-41 victory at Hoover.

NORTH CANTON — On paper, the Boardman High girls basketball team’s 63-41 victory on Saturday over North Canton Hoover has the same value as the other six Federal League victories that earned the Spartans the regular-season crown.

In reality, the crushing victory on the Vikings’ home court means so much more.

By finishing 7-0 in league play, the Spartans (13-2) have the top seed for the Federal League tournament and won’t face Hoover (12-4, 5-2) or Canton McKinley until the championship game.

More importantly, the Spartans are in position to earn the top seed for the Division I district tournament.

Right?

“You never know,” coach Ron Moschella said Boardman led as much as 40-15 midway through the third quarter. “Believe me, if we played that game over again, it could be just the opposite, in my opinion. I’ve seen [the Vikings] play [much better.] They are a great 3-point shooting team.”

“They didn’t hit their shots,” Moschella said, “Our kids said that, too. ... I think we had something to do with that.”

Unable to stop Boardman’s taller players — 6-foot-2 Darryce Moore and 6-0 Kayleigh Lipke — from scoring inside, the Vikings consistently launched long-range shots and didn’t connect.

The Vikings missed all but one of their first 15 3-point shots before Hannah Roan found the basket in the third quarter to cut Boardman’s lead to 40-18.

“Hoover has such a big rivalry with us and it feels so good to beat them,” senior guard Monica Touvelle said after scoring 16 points against the Spartans’ biggest rival in the Federal League.

“[Moschella] said we had no pressure, but we knew we had to win this,” said Touvelle, a Youngstown State recruit. “I don’t think we could do much better. They are so small and we are so big — I don’t think we could have guarded them much better than that.”

After Lipke and Hoover’s Lindsey Fiala traded opening baskets, the Spartans seized control with an 11-0 run that featured five points from Moore, an Ohio State recruit.

Fiala’s second-quarter 3-pointer put the Vikings within striking distance by cutting Boardman’s lead to 15-9. The Spartans responded with an 8-1 run that included five points by junior Brooke Meenachan.

Moore led Boardman with 19 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

“They didn’t have an answer for [Moore,]” Moschella said. “She played well.

“To be honest, if they make their 3s, we’re in trouble,” Moschella said. “They just didn’t make their 3s.”

The Spartans outrebounded the Vikings, 30-16.

“They are small, but they are quick,” Moschella said. “I think there is a mutual respect between both teams — I don’t know about the fans. They’ve [walloped] us a lot and we did it to them for a change, and we’re happy about that.”

Meenachan scored 11 points while Lipke had 10 before leaving the game after her head struck the floor during a fourth-quarter collision. Touvelle was happiest for senior point guard Doriyon Glass, who has recovered from three ACL injuries to win a title.

“If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t be [champions],” Touvelle said. “She is such a leader for us, she really controls the team.”

williams@vindy.com