Boardman boys win fifth straight

January 12, 2019 at 12:10a.m.

Boardman’s defense continues

recent run of dominance

BOARDMAN

As the Boardman Spartans’ defense goes, so go the Boardman Spartans.

The Spartans took a four-game winning streak into a game Friday night against Howland. Boardman had not allowed more than 53 since Dec. 22 and had won by an average of 23.6 points.

The trend continued in a 73-42 rout of the Tigers.

Derrick Anderson had a game-high 17 points and Che Trevena added 13 to pace four Spartans in double figures.

Ethan Anderson with 11 points and Daeone Martin, who added 10, were the others in double figures for the Spartans (9-3, 3-0 AAC Red).

“Being the point guard, coach [Pat] Birch wants me to be the vocal leader, find the open player but also take the open shot when it is there,” Anderson said. “I trust in my team and they trust me. We have a nice chemistry right now as we begin the second half of the season.

“We’re playing good ball right now, but we still have some things that we need to fix and work on. We must work on our game tempo and remain mentally focused, taking it one game at a time.”

The Spartans scored the first 13 points and led 18-2 advantage a little over six minutes into the contest.

Seven points each by Anderson and Ethan Andersen staked the Spartans to a 27-7 lead after one quarter.

The Tigers (4-7, 0-2) showed some offensive life in the second quarter behind Frankie Manios’ two 3-pointers and used a 14-5 run to cut the deficit to 31-21 at intermission.

“Boardman is a good team and they’re having a good year. I’m worried about us, though, right now,” Tigers head coach Dan Bubon said. “We had too many turnovers and a lot of our troubles were self-inflicted.

“We only average 46 points per game and we need to change that. We changed our offense in two days and while it looked good in practice, it just didn’t carry over to the game.”

The Spartans went on a scoring rampage to start the second half, scoring the first eight points of the third quarter and 19 of the first 21 for a 50-23 lead before settling for a 55-27 lead after three quarters.

“We challenged our guys to put a lot of pressure on them and we did an excellent job of that in the first and third periods, not so much in the second and fourth quarters,” Birch saud. “We then refocused at intermission and took care of the ball.

“Derrick has done a great job as our focal point all year. He averages 17 points and five assists and those are great numbers. Ethan gives us energy and life and Zach Ryan is a high-energy guy whose contribution isn’t always reflected in the box score. In fact, most of what he does doesn’t show up in the game summary. We’re playing some of the best ball in my seven seasons as head coach and when you look at our 2016-17 team that got off to a 10-1 start, this team has the same approach to the game and each other.”

Ryan had just two points but forced several of Howland’s 21 turnovers.

“Coach Birch tells us to play tough defensively all 32 minutes and we take that to heart,” Ryan said. “The game plan was to limit their post touches and rebound at both ends of the court, limiting any second-chance opportunities. Playing hard defensively leads to offensive chances and that has been the key to this win streak.”

Manios led Howland with 11 points.