BY GREG GULAS
      Boardman News Sports
      bnews@zoominternet.net
      After two losses to start their season, the Boardman Spartans girls’ basketball team presented first-year head coach Brett Green with his first win of the campaign when they defeated Struthers, 58-50, on Monday, Dec. 14 at the area’s historic Struthers Fieldhouse.
      Raegan Burkey had a game-high 20 points while Gia Triveri added 16 markers to pace the Spartans’ well-rounded performance.
      “We are getting better, it’s a learning process. The girls are playing hard,” Green said. “Raegan Burkey and Gia Triveri hit some really big shots for us, Mackenzie [Riccitelli] is learning how to be a varsity point guard with 11 assists, Katie Stamp and Emma Mills were great with rebounding and playing help defense.
      “We also got some quality play from our bench. Overall, it was a great team win.”
      Burkey’s offensive output included a game-best five buckets from beyond the arc while Triveri added five rebounds and three steals.
      Stamp narrowly missed a double-double with 11 rebounds and eight points while Mills’ effort also included 11 rebounds to go along with her six tallies.
      Riccitelli also added eight points, six rebounds and two steals to her overall effort.
      Emma Elia had a game-high 20 points for the Wildcats.
      Last Saturday afternoon, the Spartans fell to cross-town rival Ursuline, 38-32 to drop to 1-3 overall and 1-2 on the road.
      “Defensively, we did exactly what we were trying to do. We kept them under 40 points and wanted to force someone other than [Anisah] Moorman to beat us,” Green stated. “Emma Mills did an excellent job on her and we played decent help defense.
      “We continue to outrebound every team we’ve played through our first four games but we’ve got to have more pride in taking care of the ball and be strong and run our offense.
      “We’re much better than we have been playing, we just have to believe that and finish on fast breaks and execute in the half court offensive sets.”
      Stamp led the Spartans with nine points and 10 rebounds while Burkey added seven points and eight caroms. Triveri registered eight points to help the Spartans offensively.
      Rachel Fabry had a game-high 13 points and Moorman added 12 points for the Fighting Irish, which improved to 2-1 overall.
      Junior Varsity
      In junior varsity action, the Spartans posted a 50-20 victory over UHS as Sam Duble and Cami Goske each registered 12 points for BHS.
      Chelsea Johnson had a game-high 16 points for Ursuline.
      At press time, BHS was scheduled to host the West Branch Warriors at the Spartans’ Gymnasium then will break for the Christmas Holiday.
      They will return to action on December 28-29 when they travel to South Range to compete in the Raiders’ Holiday Tournament.
      They will go up against South Range on December 28 then will close out the 2020 portion of their schedule when they meet the Akron Archbishop Hoban Knights the following day.