Spartans’ year ends vs. Stow

February 28, 2017 at 12:05a.m.

AKRON

Boardman’s girls basketball team did not start the season looking like a district semifinalist, but the Spartans proved to be a resilient bunch.

It took this team seven games to find its groove, correcting a 2-5 start with a six-game winning streak. That run led to section final upset over rival Austintown Fitch to send the Spartans to Akron for the semifinal.

“We exceeded a lot of expectations and it’s been a great run,” Boardman senior Lauren Gabriele said.

One hole they couldn’t climb out was the one Stow-Munroe Falls put them in Monday night. The Bulldogs limited the Spartans to three points in the second half to hand them a 60-21 defeat at The LeBron James Arena at Akron St.Vincent-St. Mary.

As low as the Spartans’ points total was, that is the most any team has scored on the Bulldogs (22-3) this posteason. They allowed a combined 28 points in the two games leading up to Monday’s game.

“We thought we had a really good scouting report on that defense. We thought we had a good plan and we put in a couple of adjustments in the second half to try and close the gap,” Boardman coach Jeff Hammerton said. “We wanted to close some gaps on defense and try to take the ball to the hole and we weren’t getting fouled and we weren’t finishing.”

At first it was hard to see the final score being so lopsided with how the Spartans (14-11) played in the first half. Jenna Vivo scored all of her team-high 10 points in the first half and Lauren Pavlansky was 2 for 3 from 3-point range for that stretch.

The Bulldogs couldn’t build that a two-possession lead until the final three minutes of the half. With that in mind, Boardman could afford to slow the game down and trailed 24-18 at the half.

That play wasn’t sustainable through the second half.

Across the end of the second quarter, through the entire third quarter and in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs went on a 28-0 run. Gabriele hit a 3 with six minutes left in the game to ensure the second half wouldn’t be scoreless.

“They really adjusted to our offense and we weren’t getting the calls that we were getting in the first half,” Gabriele said.

“It was hard taking the ball to the hoop and executing on offense.”

Lauren Turschak led the Bulldogs with 14 points. Theresa Parr scored 13 and Lizzy Stefanov had 12 points for the winning side. They forced 20 turnovers.

Boardman graduated eight seniors last year and this year, Gabriele, Pavlansky and Alexis Deland move on.

“We all worked hard and we all played as a family,” Pavlansky said.

With an uncertain starting lineup and even shakier performances to start the year, it took time for Hammerton to fully assess what this team could be. Now, he’s impressed with the run his Spartans put together.

“This was going to be a team that was going to fight had and I’m so proud of these kids,” Hammerton said.

“Whatever that scoreboard says, it doesn’t reflect how hard these girls played.”