Spartans control second half to top Fitch

January 17, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

Boardman

Gannon Murray scored a game-high 19 points to help lift Boardman to a 45-37, come-from-behind victory over arch-rival Austintown Fitch in All-American Conference, Red Tier boys basketball action Friday night.

But five 3-pointers and 16 points by teammate Brian Fryda seemed to give the Falcons double-vision.

Murray, who didn’t score in the opening session, settled for just four points in the opening half as the Spartans trailed 23-15 at intermission.

During the break, Murray said head coach Pat Birch issued a challenge to everyone to play better team basketball.

“We needed to play better as a team, run our plays and knock down open looks. That was something we didn’t do in the first half,” Murray said. “We realize that we can win and that is the attitude that we have. We’re a team that doesn’t quit.”

Austintown Fitch (5-5, 2-4) got two buckets from beyond the arc in the opening period from Scott Duffy and raced to an 11-3 lead after the first eight minutes of play.

They extended their lead to 19-8 on consecutive buckets by Dom DiFrancisco, with the last coming at the 2:49 mark of the second frame.

With Fryda canning two of his triples in the quarter and three overall in the opening half, Boardman (5-7, 4-6) cut the Falcons’ lead to 23-15 heading to the locker room.

“The key was that we brought more energy at the start of the second half. We needed to the throw the first punch and stop them defensively,” Fryda said. “We’re starting to learn that we’re never out of a game. We practice hard and expect to win.”

Eight points by Murray in the third quarter keyed a 16-9 run by the Spartans as they cut the Falcons’ lead to 32-31 with one period remaining.

Sebastian Heinonen’s only bucket of the game, a 3-pointer at 7:06 of the final session gave the Spartans the lead for good at 34-32 and when Murray added a bucket at 6:29, Boardman used a 5-0 run to open a 36-32 advantage.

An Anthony Pangio hoop at 4:40 cut the Austintown Fitch deficit to 36-34, but five free throws by Murray down the stretch helped Boardman end a two-game tailspin. The Spartans won for the third time in five outings and improving to 4-3 at home.

“I’ve realized since November that we have a very resilient group. I knew we’d have growing pains, throughout the season and in games and today in the first quarter we had no sense of urgency,” Birch said. “At halftime we challenged them both individually and as a team and they responded to that challenge in the second half.”

Falcons head coach Brian Beany was pleased with his team’s start, but not the finish.

“We couldn’t maintain it physically, mentally and emotionally tonight. It’s frustrating for both the players and the staff,” Beany said. “Defensively, our average is very good and when you hold a team to 45 points you expect to win. At times, though, we’re not very good and that’s been a problem.”

It was the second consecutive loss for the Falcons.