Friday, February 24, 2017
By Tom Williams
AUSTINTOWN
After Fitch senior Natalie Lynn scored two baskets to open the second quarter, Boardman senior Lauren Gabriele’s teammates were staring at an 11-point deficit.
Over the next 15 minutes of action, the Spartans ignited, outscoring the Falcons 32-10 to create an 11-point deficit for Lynn’s Falcons.
The Falcons stormed back with a 19-8 run and a tie game. Then the Spartans prevailed on late clutch free throws by Jenna Vivo, Lauren Pavlansky and Alicia Saxton for a 52-50 victory in a Division I sectional final Thursday night.
Lynn conceded it might have been the Falcons’ wildest game of the season.
“Especially [because] if you lost, you’re done,” Lynn said after scoring 12 points and making eight rebounds. “Definitely, a lot on the line.”
Gabriele led the Spartans with 20 points, seven rebounds and a block. She admitted that trailing 19-8 usually is not a good omen.
“You don’t want them to keep that momentum,” Gabriele said. “You want to get out of it as soon as you can.
“I feel we did that [well].”
Boardman coach Jeff Hammerton wasn’t panicked.
“I didn’t feel like we were playing terrible,” Hammerton said.
The Spartans started working for inside shots and finished the first half on an 11-2 run to slice the Falcons’ lead to 21-19. That’s when the game became very interesting.
“Boardman played a great game tonight,” Fitch coach Dan Schnurrenberger said. “They made plays when they had to.”
The Spartans opened the third quarter with an 11-0 run, with Gabriele scoring eight points including a pair of base-line 3-pointers, Vivo, the Spartans’ junior guard, scored 10 points that quarter as Boardman opened a 40-29 lead.
Despite the reversal, Hammerton said he felt the game was far from over.
“I told the girls, ‘They’re not going to fold’ and they were going to come after us,” Hammerton said. “They gave us everything they had.”
Jada Lazaro hit two 3-pointers, Sabria Hunter contributed a basket and free throw, Lynn hit a 3-pointer and Gina DiFrancesco made two for a tie at 46.
“We have a tough bunch of girls,” Schnurrenberger said.
Hammerton agreed.
“They hit big shot after big shot,” Hammerton said. “But my girls have grown up. Maybe earlier in the year, we might not have figured out how to win a game like that, but tonight those girls figured it out.”
Fitch (17-6) came so close to tying the game in the final minute. Trailing 50-48, Hunter took two shots from underneath the basket. The second one rimmed out.
With eight seconds remaining, the Falcons inbounded the ball but were unable to cross the center line before time expired.
The Spartans (14-10) will play second-seeded Stow-Munroe Falls on Monday in a district semifinal at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
“We don’t want to be done yet,” Gabriele said.
Vivo, who scored 15 points called the win “so big. They beat us twice in the regular season. We came out and played with our hearts.”
DiFrancesco finished with 11 points, Camryn Constance 10 and Hunter nine.
Lynn and Mikaela Hibbs played their final varsity game. Classmate Allexis Sallee is recovering from leg surgery.
“To get 17 wins was good for us and to be seeded three was great,” Lynn said.
Schnurrenberger called his team “a senior-led group.
“Our girls had some hard-fought wins, some comebacks like you saw tonight,” he said. “Obviously, we just fell short.”