Staff photo / Greg Macafee Austintown Fitch guard Gianni Maley pulls up for a jump shot in the middle of the lane Friday night against Boardman. Maley scored a team-high 15 points for the Falcons in their 50-47 come-from-behind victory over the Spartans.

AUSTINTOWN — Never count the Falcons out.

After trailing 31-17 at halftime in their All-American Conference matchup with the Boardman Spartans, Austintown-Fitch battled back with big shots from sophomore Carter Owens and clutch plays by senior Gianni Maley to secure a 50-47 victory over the Spartans on Friday.

The Spartans seized momentum early in the game. On offense, Boardman junior Demarr Clark scored eight of his 14 total points in the first quarter. Defensively, the Spartans held Fitch to only six points in the game’s opening period.

The Spartans continued their strong play through the first half as sophomore guard David D’Altorio hit three three-point-shots in the second quarter. Boardman head coach Pat Birch liked what he saw from D’Altorio, who finished the game with 12 points.

“He’s been playing really well lately,” Birch said. “I like the mentality. With a sophomore point guard, you’re going to live with some ups and downs. He played really well tonight. He’s practiced really well.”

The first half was not pretty for Fitch. The Falcons were unable to keep up with the fast-paced offense of Boardman and they could not get their shots to fall.

Fitch head coach Brian Beany thought his team played tight in the first half.

“From our standpoint in the first half we looked nervous for the first time all year,” Beany said. “I don’t know if it was because of the crowed or whatever, but we were tight. Our shots were short, we couldn’t buy anything, and Boardman was making shots and kicking our butts on the boards too.”

The Falcons began to hit their stride in the third quarter thanks to Owens. The sophomore swingman missed multiple jump shots in the first half and then rebounded to hit three three-point-shots early in the third quarter. Owens finished the game with 11 points and he helped Fitch claw their way back into match.

“It was just a matter of watching the ball go in the basket for us,” Beany said. “As soon as some shots started to fall, the confidence came right back. Carter had some good looks in the first half, he just didn’t make them. Once he hit that first one, he’s a really good streaky shooter.”

The Falcons trailed by nine points heading into the fourth quarter. With the game on the line, Fitch looked to Maley, their lone senior starter, to step up.

Maley scored six of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and helped propel the Falcons over Boardman.

“He’s our lone senior starter,” Beany said. “So, we look for him in certain situations or in crunch time. He’s been here before, he did it all last year as a starter. He’s that steadying presence out there, he made some big shots, but everyone came up big when needed.”

With the second half scoring from Owens and Maley, Fitch was able to pull off the comeback over Boardman. For the Spartans, Birch thought his team lost their intensity during the second half.

“I thought we played a really good first half,” Birch said. “We were the aggressors, I thought we were the ones dictating terms. Then, in the second half, the game flipped. I was not really disappointed in our effort as much as our mental approach to just kind of being smart and handling their pressure. I thought we really started to be passive and on our heels and credit to Fitch for changing the momentum.”

With the loss, the Spartans fall to a 4-6 overall record and 0-1 in the All-American Conference. With the victory, Fitch improves to a 7-3 overall record and a 2-0 record in conference play. Beany hopes that the come from behind win is something that his players remember later in the season.

“What it does for us is it shows that if we are down and not shooting the ball well there is still time to come back,” Beany said. “It’s just a matter of staying positive, taking it one possession at a time, so that’s huge.”