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Boardman jumps on slumping Mooney
By Gary Housteau
YOUNGSTOWN
Behind the hot start of junior Holden Lipke, Boardman raced out to a quick lead en route to a 62-45 victory over their backyard rival Cardinal Mooney.
“We haven’t beat them in I don’t even know how long. They beat us last year and we were up,” Lipke said. “So getting this win is a big one. We go to 8-1, we win a big away game, it feels good.”
Lipke scored seven of Boardman’s first 10 points and 13 of his team-high 17 points in the first half. He reached a season-high in points and six rebounds and deflected any credit for the win to his teammates. Junior Mike Melewski chipped in 11 points, while seniors Coleman Stauffer also had 11, John Ryan had eight and Travis Koontz had four points and 11 rebounds.
“Our whole team is playing well, we’re balanced all around,” he said. “I’m not surprised at all with our success this season. I feel we really put it together this game as a team.”
The Spartans stretched their lead out to 16 in the third period and it got as high as 19.
“This is one of those rivalry games the kids are all up for. The student section once again was phenomenal and this is never an easy place to play,” Boardman head coach Pat Birch said. “This was one of our more complete games. Not quite a full 32 minutes, but I thought, overall, it was one of our best start to finish games that we’ve had.
“Tonight was definitely one of our best fourth quarters. We were able to separate,” Birch added.
It hasn’t been a good rivalry week for Mooney, who also lost to Ursuline on Friday night.
“They both sting equally,” Mooney head coach Carey Palermo said. “We know we got a lot of guys who were put in positions they’ve never been in, but at the same point the goal is to win. We’ve got to find a way to win one of these big time games.
“Once we get one of those wins, once we figure out we can do it, I think things will loosen up and I think we’ll be able to mold together as a team,” Palermo added.
Not having senior Pat Pelini available all season has been an additional burden on this young team. Pelini was in street clothes on the Mooney bench. He’s rehabbing an injury while his father was chasing a National Championship with YSU in Texas.
“He’s the heart and soul of our team,” Palermo said. “He’s our leader, he has our most varsity experience, he’s our captain for a reason. We asked him ‘You’re banged up, you’re hurt, are you going to be going Frisco, Texas?’ He said. ‘Absolutely not, this is my team. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving my teammates like that.’ He’s been an assistant coach for us.
“It’s killing us right now not having him on the floor just from a leadership standpoint, let alone he’s a great ball handler. He’s a great scorer and he’s our best on the ball defender, Palermo added.
The Cardinals were led once again by sophomore Pete Haas, who had a game-high 23 points while classmate Johnnie Mikos added nine points.
“Petey can really fill it up. He’s a kid who works extremely hard at it,” Palermo said. “We’d really like him to develop more of a leadership role but offensively he’s our most talented guy for sure.”
The Spartans, at 8-1 now, continue to roll on.
“It’s been a fantastic start, it really has,” Birch said. “But we’ve got a lot of games left, a lot of tough games starting next Tuesday against Struthers who’s playing really well this year too.”
Lipke is obviously excited for his team’s future.
“The sky’s the limit,” he said. “I feel really good about this team. There’s no game left that I don’t think we can’t win. But in the playoffs, since I’ve been here, we’ve lost in the first round every year. So going on a run as far as we can go, that’s our goal.”