Marietta’s fast start overwhelms Boardman

February 24, 2015 at 12:06a.m.

By Steve Wilaj

BOARDMAN

Going into Monday’s first-round Division I tournament matchup with Marietta, the Boardman High School girls basketball team had a simple plan — start fast.

“But the exact opposite happened,” Spartans head coach Jeff Hammerton said after Monday’s 59-42 loss. “There are little things in basketball games that make a difference.

“In that first quarter, we got to the line and had some easy shots at the rim,” Hammerton said. “They just didn’t fall.”

The 18th-seeded Tigers blitzed 14th-seeded Boardman from the start, jumping out to a 15-point halftime lead.

Boardman finished its season at 12-10, while Marietta (11-11) advances to play at top-seeded Canton Glen Oak on Thursday.

“We hit some shots early and attacked inside,” Tigers coach Mark Hannuksela said. “I think we have a deceiving record. This same group with the same starters won 15 games last year. I feel like we’re a pretty good team — we’ve just had kind of a disappointing year.”

Marietta certainly played to its potential against Boardman, storming out to an 18-9 first-quarter lead. Alle Moore led the way with 22 points and 14 rebounds for the Tigers, who held the Spartans to just two second-quarter points.

Boardman — which finished the contest 13 of 49 from the field — shot just 4 of 31 overall and 3 of 10 from the foul line in the first half.

“When you’re shooting like that, it’s very difficult to beat a team as fundamentally sound as Marietta,” Hammerton said.

Meanwhile, the Tigers finished 22 of 45 from the field (49 percent). They also out-rebounded Boardman, 41-18.

“We thought the key to this game would be defending and grabbing rebounds,” Hannuksela said. “I thought we did a good job of that.

“They tried to drive on us a lot and, for the most part, we kept our feet moving and kept them out of the paint.”

In addition to Moore’s big night, Madison Miller scored 14 points for Marietta while Hannah Goskins added 12 points.

The Tigers successfully handled Boardman’s full-court press defense, which Hammerton said the Spartans were forced to go to earlier than planned.

“When we executed [our press offense], we got a lot of 3-on-1’s,” Hannuksela said. “We have several people capable of handling the ball and we try to put five scoring threats on the floor.

“We just want everybody to be ready when it’s there turn and I think we did a good job of that.”

Krista Johnson’s 14 points paced Boardman while Jenna Vivo added 13 points and Natalie Wilson scored eight.

“We were returning less than three points [this year] — only Krista scored last year,” Hammerton said. “We knew it was going to be a tough rebuilding year, but with that being said, the last month we went 5-1 and I felt like we were playing really well.

“We did some things tonight that we haven’t done in three or four weeks and that’s what cost us.”