Johnson’s late layup lifts Boardman past Howland

By Steve WILAJ

sports@vindy.com

Boardman

There was only one thing on Krista Johnson’s mind.

As the Boardman forward exited the team huddle after a timeout with 6.6 seconds remaining and the Spartans trailing Howland by one point, Johnson was on a mission.

“I just thought, ‘It’s time to make the last shot,’” she said.

The Tigers figured she’d get the call, too. But it didn’t matter. Johnson did exactly what she set out to do.

The junior took the sideline inbounds pass, drove baseline and finished the game-winning layup with just 2.2 seconds remaining to lift Boardman to a 52-51 victory on Wednesday. It was Johnson’s fifth and final basket of the night, as she finished with a team-high 19 points and nine rebounds.

“We were just gonna run a pick and see who the open one was,” Johnson said. “Jenna [Vivo] set a great pick for me — that’s the reason I was so open on that last play.”

Boardman coach Jeff Hammerton said the final play worked out just as he drew it up. Meanwhile, Howland coach John Diehl said his team didn’t execute its defensive strategy.

“We had specific instructions to foul her before she could get up a good shot,” Diehl said. “We didn’t do what we were told to do, so she got off an easy shot. But she’s a tremendous player.”

Prior to Johnson’s shot, Howland’s Sara Price was in line to be the hero instead.

The Tigers (14-5, 7-3 AAC Red) led, 49-46, with two minutes remaining. But layups by Vivo and Johnson gave Boardman (11-8, 4-5) a one-point lead with 50 seconds remaining.

However, Price — who paced Howland with 27 points — then connected on a long corner jumper to give the Tigers a 51-50 lead with 19 seconds remaining. The Spartans’ final possession then began with a pass tipped out of bounds with 6.6 remaining to set up Johnson’s decisive layup.

The dramatic victory capped Boardman’s senior night, which honored Shelby Jordan and Doricia Robinson. Both seniors started, although Johnson — sitting out the entire season with a knee injury — exited after the opening tip.

“Big players come up in big games and Krista definitely had a big game tonight,” Hammerton said. “But we played a lot for our seniors tonight. When we drew that last play up, I know Krista was thinking ‘I gotta score for those two girls.’”

The Tigers looked poised to spoil the night, though, jumping out to a 27-18 halftime lead. But the Spartans made a key adjustment at halftime, deciding to increase the defensive pressure and scrap their plan of face-guarding Howland’s Victoria Rappach, who finished with 15 points.

“I figured that if we’re gonna run a defense to not let her shoot 3s and she still shoot’s 3s, lets do something we do pretty well and press them,” Hammerton said. “It really changed the pace of the game.”

The Spartans — who also received 13 points and 10 rebounds from Vivo — outscored Howland 19-7 in the third quarter.

“We’ve grown together as a team and really learned how to play together,” Johnson said. “It’ll only get better.”