Leopards Season Ends at the Hands of Spartans 64-60
Boardman 64, Louisville 60
The Louisville Leopards boys basketball team’s season came to a close Monday night at Alliance High School. The Leps fell to the Boardman Spartans in the Sectional Semifinals 64-60 to finish the season 7-14. Three Leopard Seniors went out with a bang as Trevor Meredith had a double-double scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, Mike Kelly dropped in 15, and Jake O’brien also scored 11.
The Leopards spread the ball around and to take a 12-5 lead to open the game. However, their advantage all but evaporated when Boardman’s Alex Passas hit two three-pointers in the final 1:18 of the first quarter to cut the deficit to 12-11. Passas hit 3 triples on the night accounting for all of his points.
Boardman and Louisville battled back and forth to begin the second quarter, before the Leps used an 8-2 run to pull out to a 24-17 lead. During the run Kelly hit a three-pointer, Meredith was fouled while scoring and converted from the line, and finally Trevor Hostetler hit a runner in the key. Kelly and Meredith combined for 16 of the Leopards 20 points in the quarter. After a few more traded baskets, Louisville held a 32-25 lead at the break.
Through the first few minutes of the third quarter Louisville showed little signs of stopping as they continued to lead 39-33. But then the Spartans scored 8 straight points over the next three minutes to take their first lead of the game at 41-40. Leading the Spartans’ quest was Jamar Steverson who caught fire and scored 13 of his game-high 25 points in the third period.
O’brien quickly answered on the other end with a deep two in the left corner to give Louisville the lead back, but sadly it would be their last of the season. O’brien would also hit a three-pointer late in the third quarter to tie the game at 45-45, but Boardman countered on the other end when Steverson hit from the elbow with just seconds remaining. 47-45 Boardman at the end of the third.
The Spartans took leads of 55-50 and 57-52 with less than three minutes gone by in the fourth, but the Leopards battled back. Alex Schooley scored a pair of buckets, Kelly hit a pair of free throws, and O’brien found the net for his second three-pointer of the contest to tie the game at 59-59 with 3:20 left.
But his downtown shot would be the last Louisville field goal of the season. On the ensuing possession, Boardman was patient and got the big play they needed to snap their 15-game losing streak. Dayne Hammond grabbed a pair of rebounds and then floated in a 5-footer while being fouled. Hammond then converted from the line to cap his evening off with 19 points and more importantly give the Spartans a 62-59 lead.
Louisville went cold from the field and Boardman hit enough free throws to send them to the next round against Warren Harding Friday. It was a sad ending to a turn-around season, but Leopard Basketball has a bright future ahead of it.
The Jungle is awakening.
STATISTICS
SPARTANS: Steverson 11 2-5 25, Hammond 8 3-6 19, Passas 3 0-0 9, McKeown 1 1-2 4, N. Dianni 1 1-2 3. P. Dianni 1 1-2 3, Mathey 0 1-3 1. TOTALS 25 9-20 64.
TEAM FG: 25-56 45%
TEAM 3PT: 5-17 29% | Passas (3), McKeown (1), Steverson (1)
TEAM FT: 9-20 45%
LEOPARDS: Meredith 6 4-8 16, Kelly 5 4-4 15, O’brien 4 1-1 11, Cheezan 4 0-0 8, Carter 0 4-4 4, Schooley 2 0-3 4, Hostetler 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 22 13-20 60.
TEAM FG: 22-49 45%
TEAM 3PT: 3-13 23% | O’brien (2), Kelly (1)
TEAM FT: 13-20 65%
Team 1-2-3-4-Total
Boardman 11-14-22-17–64
Louisville 12-20-13-15–60
Rebounds: Boardman 28-27
Fouls: Boardman 19-16
Records: Boardman 4-17, Louisville 7-14
PICTURES
