43
Hoover too much for Boardman
By Tom Williams
NORTH CANTON
With two trips to state in the past seven seasons and having developed three players who earned Big Ten scholarships, the Boardman High girls basketball program has certainly been at the “Head of the Class.”
But with five new starters, this year’s Spartans squad is more reminiscent of another ABC comedy from two decades ago — “Growing Pains.”
Saturday, Hoover closed the first quarter with a 14-0 run en route to a 74-36 victory in the Federal League opener.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” Hoover (2-0, 1-0) coach Tim Vick said. “I know they are a better team than what we saw today. I thought they played harder than us in the first half.”
Kaylee Stroemple, one of the Vikings’ two returning starters, led the attack with 17 points and three rebounds. Erika Warren, the other returnee, chipped in with 12 points and two steals. Kelsey Peare scored 14.
“Our team didn’t play well, we turned the ball over, we have a lot of work to do physically,” Boardman coach Ron Moschella said. “We have to learn how to play the game a little bit better.
“I think I put them in a little hole by playing zone,” Moschella said. “That’s my fault.”
Megan Volosin led Boardman’s offense with 13 points including two 3-pointers. Junior Emily Gibbs contributed 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
“Gibbs really played well on the boards,” Moschella said. “Jenna Kucek did a great job of handling the point especially when they doubled [her] — she turned it over a couple of times but she’s learning.
“Briana Fonderlin goes hard and she punishes you if you get in her way.”
Despite the score, Moschella found positives.
“We played hard the first half,” Moschella said. “We attacked the basket and got a lot of charges — that’s what I want them to do so that shows they were listening to me.”
With the elimination of the regular season-ending Federal Tournament, the seven schools in the league now play home-and-home series against each other.
“It’s a process, it’s a journey and we’ll see how much better we play the next time we play Hoover,” Moschella said.