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Ryan hits game-winning 3-pointer for Boardman
By Greg Gulas
BOARDMAN
John Ryan’s 3-pointer with three seconds remaining capped a 10-0, game-ending run as Boardman beat Niles 50-47 in an All-American Conference, intra-division game Friday night.
After the game, Ryan confessed that he isn’t shy when it comes to launching a missile from beyond the arc.
“I always want to take the last shot of the game and tonight, I just felt the ball going in the moment that it left my hand,” Ryan said. “We haven’t played a man team in a couple of weeks and after coach [Pat Birch] drew up the play during our time out, Holden [Lipke] got the ball to me perfectly and I had plenty of time to get it off.”
Birch added that putting pressure on the Red Dragons (4-2) midway through the final quarter was what turned the game around.
“We were down by seven midway through the fourth quarter when we kicked up the defensive pressure,” Birch said. “We felt that we needed to change the tempo in order to get back into the game.
“On John Ryan’s bucket, there were several options and everyone executed perfectly. We had a great screen to start the play and then got an excellent screen to get someone open. Mike Melewski then made a perfect back door pass to Holden Lipke, who made the extra pass to a wide open Ryan for the game-winning bucket.”
It was a nip-and-tuck opening half with the score knotted at 10 after the opening frame and the Red Dragons leading by a point, 19-18 at the intermission.
Seven points by the Spartans’ Mile Melewski in the third helped Boardman (4-2) keep pace as Niles maintained a point advantage heading to the final quarter of play, 37-36.
Niles’ Cameron Kane-Johnson, who needed 37 points coming into Friday’s game in order to reach the 1,000 point plateau, scored the first six points of the final frame which allowed the Red Dragons to open a 43-36 margin.
Kane-Johnson finished with a game-high 17 points.
Back-to-back buckets by Boardman’s Gannon Murray cut the Niles lead to 43-40, but a hoop by Tre Martin at 3:21 and a bucket by River Hansen five seconds later gave the Red Dragons their second, seven point lead of the quarter at 47-40.
Murray’s third bucket of the period cut the Niles margin to 47-42 at 2:54 and after a Melewski charity toss, the Spartans made it 47-43 with 2:07 remaining.
Two hoops by Coleman Stauffer then knotted the game for the final time, 47-47 with 43 seconds remaining, setting the stage for Ryan’s shot.
“We struggled early but have played more as a team of late, moving the ball better offensively while working harder on defense,” Stauffer said. “I was at the top of the key when John got the ball and didn’t know if he would have to pass it. He was wide open and then knocked it down for the win. It’s a great feeling when you come back and win like we did tonight.”
Seven turnovers in the final quarter proved costly for the Red Dragons, who saw their modest four-game win streak come to an end.
“We went on a turnover binge in the final period and that really hurt us,” Niles head coach Ron Price said. “Give Boardman credit because they made some key steals and big shots.
“Turnovers were costly and we just didn’t convert. We failed to close it out and while it’s a tough loss, we’ll learn from this experience.”
Each team had 13 turnovers while the Spartans registered nine steals, converting those thefts into eight points.