Originally published February 10, 2017 at 11:41 p.m., updated February 10, 2017 at 11:41 p.m.
YOUNGSTOWN — Holden Lipke’s hot shooting start and Travis Koontz’s dominance on the boards in the third quarter helped the Boardman High School boys basketball team open up a 16-point lead on East.
Those performances came in handy as the Panthers climbed back into Friday’s game, twice cutting the lead to four in the Spartans’ 68-62 victory.
“I’m not surprised it turned into a possession game in the fourth quarter,” Boardman coach Pat Birch said. “We played them earlier in the year at home in a very similar game [60-51].
“You know they are going to keep coming after you, challenging you,” Birch said. “I thought we did a good job of answering those challenges.”
Lipke also wasn’t shocked that the game tightened up.