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Ursuline’s depth too much for Boardman
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Boardman’s Emily Gibbs (34) leaps past Ursuline’s Courtney Powell on the way to the hoop during the first quarter of Wednesday’s game at Boardman High School.
By Doug Chapin
BOARDMAN
By the end of the night it was clear which team had four sophomores starting and which had four starters returning from a team which reached a regional final a season ago.
That was not quite so evident in the first quarter.
The young Boardman Spartans, with four sophomores and a junior in their lineup, controlled the first quarter before the more experienced Ursuline Irish, a Division III regional finalist in 2011, rallied for a 53-40 girls basketball victory Tuesday night.
“We’ve got four starters back, which is always good to have, including three seniors who have basically played varsity all four years,” first-year Ursuline coach Courtney Davidson said. “And we’ve got some young ones who are coming along and following in the older girls’ footsteps.
“It’s given us a good look, we’re pretty deep. We’ve got a lot of players contributing to the team. Our bench is getting deeper and I think we’re growing as a team to this point of the season.”
Boardman’s interim coach Jeff Hammerton, who took over when long-time coach Ron Moschella stepped down for health reasons in mid-December, sees his young squad growing.
“We’re getting there. You never want to use the excuse that we’re young but we’re having a tough time figuring out how to win games,” he said. “We’re now getting ourselves in games but we’re just not able to finish them off. That will come with time, I think we’ll get there. The key is figuring out how to close these games out.”
Boardman (2-7) shot 7-for-12 on field goals in the first quarter, but managed just 5-for-12 shooting the rest of the way as the Irish (7-2) ratcheted up their defense.
The Spartans led 15-9 after one quarter — the largest lead in the period was nine points — but the visitors were on top 24-21 by halftime. Ursuline extended the lead to 37-31 after three quarters and Boardman never came closer than six in the final quarter.
Davidson said defense is the key to Ursuline’s game.
“That’s something that started with Sean Durkin before me and when I played,” she said. “I wasn’t the best defender but it was something we took pride in, defense wins games. That’s something that we know as a team that if our defense doesn’t come then our offense doesn’t come.”
Senior guard Aurielle Irizarry led the Irish with 25 points. Senior post Courtney Powell added 14 points, eight rebounds and four steals.
Briana Curd had six assists, Sydney Beasley five and Irizarry four.
Junior forward Emily Gibbs had 17 points and six rebounds for the Spartans and sophomore forward Kelly Tomcsayni had 14 points and seven rebounds.
Hammerton said he can see the improvement in the young Spartans.
“It’s a process of getting these girls more confident and getting them better. We’ve gone through a lot of stuff over the past month,” he said. “There’s been a lot of adversity and then just the other day our sixth man, Amanda Lipke, got sick and she’s now out for a couple weeks. It’s about getting these girls better daily.
“I think you see that with Emily Gibbs. In the first half today — I know that Courtney Powell is going to Memphis — but our girl went toe to toe with her, not just in the first half, but for the whole game.”