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Koontz powers Boardman to second win
By Steve Ruman
NILES
Boardman High coach Pat Birch knows that he is just two games into a long season. He also acknowledges that his team is still a work-in-progress.
Still, Birch isn’t hiding the fact that he is more than pleased with the way his Spartans have started the 2016-17 campaign.
Last Friday, Boardman (2-0) opened with an upset home win over Warren Harding. On Tuesday, the Spartans hit the road, this time coming away with a 63-43 victory over Niles.
Leading 30-22 at intermission, Boardman benefited from a big second half by Travis Koontz. The senior scored 14 of his game-high 22 points in the third quarter. Boardman then outscored Niles 15-5 in the final stanza to pull away for good.
John Ryan (15 points) and Holden Lipke (12 points) also scored in double figures to help the Boardman cause. Niles was led by Da’Jon Motley (13 points) and Ty’rese Williams (11 points).
“It’s been awhile since this program started out 2-0, so we’re real excited,” Birch said. “We beat one of the top programs in Northeast Ohio in Harding.
“We came here tonight and beat a Ron Price-coached team that gives everyone fits. This start, it is definitely something for us to build on.”
Niles scored the first three points of the game, and led 5-3 until a Lipke layup knotted things up at 5-5 midway through the first period. Boardman would never trail from that point on.
Lipke scored six points in the quarter, all on driving lay-ups. The other nine Boardman points in the quarter came on a trio of three-point shots by Ryan.
“We did a nice job of moving the ball, working our offense both inside and outside,” Birch said. “John’s outside shooting early on, that really kind of opened things up for us underneath the basket the rest of the way.”
Despite Koontz’s strong third-quarter showing, Niles remained within striking distance, and a Corbin Foy three-pointer to open the fourth quarter cut the Boardman lead to 48-41. However, from that point forward, the Spartans outscored the Red Dragons 15-2.
“This was one of those games where [Niles] just kept hanging around, you knew they weren’t going to go away easy,” Birch said. “In the fourth quarter, we finally figured out their zone traps. We got the ball into the middle of the floor to our big guy down low and he did a good job of finishing for us.”
Koontz said he believed the Spartans’ second-half offensive spurt was the result of solid defense.
“We forced some turnovers and some bad shots, and that helped us push things offensively,” Koontz said. “The other guys, they really moved the ball well.
“Everyone was contributing in terms of good ball movement, and eventually it came down low to me and I was able to convert.”
Koontz echoed the comments made by his coach regarding the importance of a fast start to the season.
“It’s exciting, we beat two really good teams so this has given us some confidence,” Koontz said. “We’re believing in ourselves and our teammates and coaches. This is a nice way to start things off.”
Meanwhile, Price said his team simply didn’t have an answer against “a really good Boardman team.”
“They have kids who can shoot it, and then you get that monster Koontz] inside, he’s a smooth kid,” Price said. “That’s just a very good all-around team.”
“I’m proud of our guys. They never quit. We just didn’t shoot very well tonight, but that’s a credit to Boardman.”