Boardman takes down Poland, 61-51
Trending
POLAND -- Boardman is on a crazy ride so far this season.
The now 3-5 Spartans look like worldbeaters one moment, then a few seconds behind the crowd the next moment.
Their "worldbeater" moment carried them over the top however, fending off a relentless Poland response in the fourth quarter to win 61-51 over the Bulldogs.
Boardman outscored the opposition 19-5 in the third quarter. Poland got the better of them in the fourth however, outscoring the Spartans 28-20.
"We just kind of joked that the whole year's going like the second half," Boardman coach Pat Birch said. "The third quarter at times, fourth quarter at other times. We've got a new group that's figuring out how to win games and when you get a lead, sometimes you get tense.
"The whole fourth quarter felt like the last two minutes of a normal game. Just choppy, no pace, kind of weird. They started making a lot of fouls and turnovers, so I'm proud of our guys. They hung on, hit enough free throws and got a 10-point win on the road. It's always an impressive feat for us, we needed it. It's a big win for us and we're back to work tomorrow."
The 19-point third frame saw six players record points. Terrell McDowell led the pack with seven. McDowell finished the contest with 11 points. Demarr Clark led the team with 22.
Birch mentioned that the Spartans' third quarter performance is what they're aiming for. The best version of their collective skillset shined that quarter.
The fourth wasn't what they wanted, but it serves as a learning opportunity.
"The third quarter is the best version of who we are," Birch said. "We were able to create some pace and turnovers and get up and down, and then the fourth quarter, it kind of chunked away and it just felt like never more than 20 seconds went off the clock at a time. We've got to learn from that and how to play through those moments. That's all."
That success came from some extra aggression. In the first half, the Spartans sat back a little. They picked it up as the game went on, but exploded out of the gates in the third.
"It's more about being aggressive on both ends of the floor," Birch said. "Our guys were a little tentative to start the game. I thought in the second quarter we were starting to be more assertive and use some of our advantages of quickness and speed."
The loss drops Poland to 4-5 on the year.
After the third quarter, the Bulldogs easily could have lied down and let the game get away from them, but they didn't. Poland took Boardman's punches and delivered a few back of its own.
"I thought the first half was a good battle. I think it was 22-18, heading into halftime. We did a nice job locating the shooters early," Bulldogs coach Eric Fender said. "We didn't come out in the third quarter very well. We didn't match their physicality and we let them get some easy buckets off of that.
"Heading into the fourth quarter, we started picking up the tempo a little bit, got them into some turnovers, got to the free throw line a little bit more. We were able to do some things in that regard, but overall you've got to tip the cap to them, they played well."
The Bulldogs have some time off before resuming play on Jan. 6 against Struthers.
Boardman is all set to enter league play, but there's one last major foe before then. The Spartans travel to Hudson to take on the Explorers on Thursday, before opening up the new year with rival Fitch.