Spartans build lead, hold off Raiders late
By Steve wilaj
BOARDMAN
Boardman knew a run was coming.
Entering the fourth quarter with a 16-point lead, Spartans coach Jeff Hammerton was certain Warren Harding wouldn’t go down without a fight. And the Raiders didn’t — cutting the deficit to two points with two minutes remaining.
“We knew the run was coming and I thought for a while there we were shaky,” Hammerton said. “But after we used a couple timeouts, the girls responded.”
Indeed they did, as Boardman hung on to defeat the pesky Raiders, 69-63, on Wednesday night. Spartans forward Krista Johnson scored five points in the final two minutes and paced Boardman (10-8, 3-5 AAC Red) with 25 points and seven rebounds.
“We just had to keep calm,” Johnson said. “They got on a run, which we knew was going to happen because they’re a great team. So we had to take a deep breath and relax. We made some key free throws near the end, too, to help put the game away.”
Boardman led 54-38 after three quarters, but the Raiders cut it to single digits — 60-51 — with 4:11 remaining.
Alasjia Dykes, who led Harding (10-7, 3-5) with 20 points, then got hot. She scored the next seven Raiders points to trim Boardman’s lead to 63-61 with 1:52 left. But a layup and foul shot by Johnson with 40 seconds remaining put an end to Harding’s rally, pushing Boardman’s advantage back to 67-61.
“We told the girls that we would have to fight through adversity and go with what we had in fourth quarter,” Raiders coach Frank Caputo said. “We’ve been preaching the team concept the past couple weeks and we knew that was the only way we could make a comeback. They all bought in and were cheering for each other.”
It was Boardman that did all the cheering early. The Spartans jumped out to a 22-6 lead after the first quarter, shooting 7 of 12 from the field — including three of four from 3-point range — while forcing Harding into seven turnovers.
“We watched the tape of what they did to us last time because they beat us pretty good at their place,” Hammerton said. “We knew what we wanted to do against their defense and we executed really well, especially in the half-court set.”
The Spartans kept up that hot shooting all night, finishing at 60 percent overall. They also made 24 of 36 free-throw attempts. Amber McMilliana and Anna Saxton each added 12 points.
“After the first time against [Harding], we kind of turned around as a team and I was excited to play them again,” Johnson said. “I’m glad it paid off.”
Harding — which shot 37 percent from the field — received 14 points from Chelsea Dipaolo and 10 from Shymara Dykes.
“This says a lot about our determination and the way we work through adversity,” Caputo said. “We’re very proud of the way they kept it together.”