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Springfield picks up road-win against YCS
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Springfield’s Ron Rogers dribbles around Youngstown Christian defenders Spencer Cornall (33) and Nick Hartman (32) during their basketball game Thursday in Youngstown. The Tigers downed the Eagles, 61-52.
By Greg Gulas
Youngstown
The Springfield High boys basketball team played just one home game this season, yet has found that the road can be just as friendly as the confines of the Tigers’ gymnasium.
Ron Rogers scored 21 points, while Eoghan Bees and Tom Mastran added 15 and 11 respectively as the Tigers defeated Youngstown Christian, 61-52 Thursday at the Eagles’ gym.
It was the fifth straight win for Springfield (5-1) after a season-opening loss to Brookfield as the Tigers moved to 4-1 in five road contests.
“When we received this year’s schedule, all we could do was thank our athletic director,” joked Tigers coach Eric Fender. “All kidding aside, this team totally understands what they have to do, especially on the road and they just go out and continue to work hard at both ends of the court.
“Tonight, both teams wanted to control the tempo of the game; Youngstown Christian wanting to run and push the ball up the court while we hoped for a slower tempo to the game. In the end, it all balanced out and the final score was reflective of the outcome.”
Rogers scored nine of his game-high 21 markers in the opening period as the Tigers raced to the early 12-4 advantage.
DeVaun Adams, who had a team-high 19 points, then hit three buckets from beyond the arc to key a 9-2 Eagles run as Youngstown Christian was able to pull to within one, 14-13 after the first eight minutes.
Nick Russell scored all five of his points in the second period and the Tigers nailed three of their seven triples in the frame as they outscored the Eagles, 15-10 as they forged a 29-23 halftime advantage.
The Tigers would not trail again.
“Our game with them last year at our place came down to the last shot and tonight each team battled right to the final buzzer,” Rogers said. “When we were down we knew that we would have to dig in, and they definitely did that as well. For us, the key was penetrating and being able to get to the free throw line.
“We also hit some key shots when we needed to and that was a big as well.”
Six points by Rogers and five more by Bees helped the Tigers build a 47-37 margin after three periods of play.
Adams’ seven points for the Eagles (4-2) in the final frame helped Youngstown Christian to within 53-49, but it was too little too late as the Eagles saw their three game win-streak fall by the wayside.
“We’d rather be 6-0 or 5-1 after the first six games, but we’ll settle for 4-2, knowing full well that we will need to correct some things from tonight’s game if we want to become a better club the rest of the season,” said YCS coach Dolph Carroll.