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Spartans get past Lakeview on road
By DAN HINER
CORTLAND
The Boardman and Lakeview boys basketball teams were evenly matched in their game on Tuesday night. But the Spartans’ defense and foul shooting in the final 3:26 helped Boardman escape with a 65-61 win.
Boardman (14-3) went into halftime trailing 39-32. The Bulldogs started to pull away after they hit five 3-pointers in a three-minute span. Boardman head coach Pat Birch went into the locker room and told his players to crowd Lakeview’s shooters around the 3-point line.
“Our goal tonight was to crowd their space, forced them to put the ball on the court and not let them get their feet set,” Birch said. “We really didn’t do a good job of that in the first half. So we challenged them and I think we did a much better job of not giving up points in the second half.”
Lakeview (7-13) took a 57-55 lead after senior Chris Muir connected on a jumper with four minutes left. But Boardman responded with back-to-back layups by Holden Lipke and Austin Barone to take a 59-57 lead.
Lakeview head coach Ryan Fitch said his players shot the ball well in the game, but the Spartans’ physicality started to take a toll in the second half.
“[Boardman is] very strong, very physical, and if you don’t put a body on someone when the shot goes up and you don’t check out, then they’re gonna get offensive rebounds,” Fitch said. “We had some lapses tonight in fundamentals, at times.”
After a turnover, a missed floater and a lane violation, the Bulldogs were forced to intentionally foul with 1:30 remaining.
The fouls sent sophomore guard Che Trevena to the line for two free throw attempts. He hit both and extended the lead to 61-57.
By the end of the game, Trevena went to the free throw line seven times in the final 43 seconds. He shot 5-of-7 from the line and put the game out of reach.
“It’s a little nerve racking at the free throw line, but those were some big points for our team. I needed [to make] those,” Trevena said.
Despite coming off the bench, Trevena scored a team-high 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had two steals. Lipke was second on the team with 12 points and forward Travis Koontz was third with 10 points and led the Spartans with nine rebounds.
Lakeview guard T.J. Lynch led the Bulldogs with a game-high 21 points, and Chris Muir was second with 19 points.
Birch said Trevena is starting to develop into one of the team’s top players. He said Trevena has played well over the past several games. Birch said Trevena would have been in the starting lineup, but his starters have also played well this season.
“He’s been doing that for the last few weeks at least, really all year,” Birch said. “He’s one of two or three guys who could be justified as starters. But we have our guys, they come off the bench and they contribute. Everyone’s bought into their roles.”
Trevena said his goal for every game is to provide energy and production, whether that be on the offensive or defensive end.
“Even though I’m not starting, I’m still trying to contribute as much as I can,” Trevena said.