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Smith’s floor game powers Fitch over Boardman
By BOB ETTINGER
AUSTINTOWN
Randy Smith understands his role as the Austintown Fitch point guard quite well. It’s his job to lead the Falcons on the floor.
Late in the first quarter, it was Smith who turned the tables in the Falcons’ favor in a 72-58 victory over Boardman on Friday night at Fitch High School.
“After the first quarter, Coach told us we had to pick up the intensity,” Smith said. “We had to stick to the gameplan — drive, kick and find the open man.”
The Spartans (3-5) held an 18-8 lead with just more than two minutes to play in the first period as Smith drove to the bucket and was fouled. He made one of the two charity tosses, but noticed the opening in the process that gave the Falcons (4-4) an edge.
“I like to get our players going,” Smith said. “I’m the point guard. I like to get everybody going. I try to be a floor general and get everyone on track. If I have a lane, I’ll take it. If I see our shooters open, I’m definitely going to kick it.”
On the next possession Chris Brown knocked down a 3-pointer and Smith followed suit as Fitch closed to within three, 18-15, to end the opening quarter.
“[Brown is] always spotting up somewhere on the wing,” Smith said. “That’s his hot spot. He’s a sharpshooter. I like to get him involved in the game and just let him shoot.”
Smith opened the second period with a pair of free throws, Brown hit another triple and Smith followed with a conventional three-point play to give Fitch a 23-20 advantage with 6:17 remaining in the half.
Brown was good on two more 3-pointers in the quarter and Smith made another as the Falcons coasted into the intermission with a 43-30 lead.
“Chris Brown did a nice job,” Fitch coach Brian Beany said. “He’s our most consistent and best 3-point shooter.”
Smith netted 16 of his game-high 25 points and Brown added all 12 of his points in the half.
“[Smith] finished 13 of 15 from the line and he hit some big shots,” Beany said. “He played within himself and didn’t try to do too much. He knew the opportunity was there and he had to step his game up. He did that.”
Boardman found its rhythm again early in the fourth quarter and closed to within five, 63-58, with 4:33 to play following Ryan Archey’s drive to the hoop.
“We were just waiting for that one big shot,” Boardman coach Pat Birch said. “I think there were like six times I told the referee that if we made a shot, I wanted a timeout. If we cut it to two, maybe the game pressure would have helped us pull it out. We couldn’t make a shot when we needed to.”
The Spartans didn’t score another point the rest of the way as Fitch sent a string of free-throw shooters to the line to pull away.
“We had a lot of good looks, too,” Birch said. “When the guys are open, they’ve got to make shots. What it comes down to in this game is they made shots and we didn’t.”
Archey led the Spartans with 23 points, Che Trevena had 12 and Holden Lipke added 10.