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Lipke’s late layup lifts Boardman
By Greg Gulas
BOARDMAN
The Boardman Spartans and Steubenville Big Red have played some knock down, drag-out football games over the years.
Friday’s boys basketball game between the two teams was no different.
Holden Lipke’s layup with 14 seconds remaining gave the Spartans to a 61-60 come-from-behind victory. Boardman (4-0) remains undefeated.
Steubenville (0-1) was playing its first game of the year, getting a late start to the season after their football team advanced to the recently concluded Division IV championship game.
“During the timeout, coach [Pat] Birch designed a play to get me isolated with the ball on the wing. When I got the ball, getting to the rim was my top priority with the hope of at least getting fouled,” Lipke said. “When the shot went down and we took the lead, then it was just play strong defense and make sure that they didn’t score.”
With the Spartans holding a one point lead, Steubenville’s Jack Marx was able to get off a shot from deep in the left corner as time expired, but it came up short.
Birch credited the loud, energetic student section as much as he did his team’s defensive play.
“Our student section was absolutely great tonight and it has been throughout the early going thus far. I told our players prior to the game to build on this excitement and they did just that. It was an absolutely terrific atmosphere tonight,” Birch said.
The Spartans raced to an early 9-2 advantage, making it 12-5 on the strength of Lipke’s seven points at the 3:21 mark of the opening frame.
Three buckets in the lane by University of Pittsburgh football commit Charles Reeves cut the Big Red deficit to 12-10 with 1:43 remaining, but Boardman proceeded to go on a 5-2 run to close out the period for a 17-12 advantage.
Two free throws by Mike Melewski gave Boardman a 26-23 margin and when Javon Davis hit a jumper in the lane at the 2:26 mark, Steubenville cut the lead to 26-25.
The Spartans then went on a 5-2 run to close the period for a 33-28 halftime lead.
“We didn’t play too bad overall, we just need to play a little bit smarter. For only being together a short period of time after the football season ended, I have no complaints whatsoever with our energy level and intensity,” Big Red head coach Mike Haney said. “Boardman is a well-coached team by Pat Birch and on film, we saw how they compete and just keep coming at you. Charles looked like a four-year starter tonight and we’ll learn from this game as we move forward.”
Reeves scored seven of his game-high 18 in the third period, propelling Big Red on a 13-2 run and to a 41-35 advantage.
A triple by Coleman Stauffer and five points by Che Trevena helped Boardman close the period on an 11-5 run, knotting the contest at 46 with one quarter remaining.
Trevena finished with nine points, but Birch couldn’t help but laud his defensive play.
“Che’s big moment came in the third period and it helped us get back into the flow of the game,” Birch said. “We were on our heels and along with Austin Barone, their energy gave us a much needed lift. Che brings an element to the game that is hard to find as he has some of the quickest hands that I have ever seen.”
Trevena called the win important, even though it’s still early.
“Our defense came up big when we needed them to,” he stated. “It’s been a while since we started the season 4-0 and a win like this just gives us an added boost.”
Steubenville took a 56-51 lead on a triple by Marx at the 5:50 mark, but Boardman reeled of eight of the next 12 points and pulled to within 60-59 on a three-point play by Sebastian Heinonen with 34 seconds remaining.