Staff photo / Preston Byers Boardman’s Ryan Smith goes up for a shot during Friday’s game against Howland at Boardman High School.

BOARDMAN — After losing its first meeting of the season with Howland, Boardman fittingly earned plenty of second chances in the second matchup between the teams Friday.

However, the Spartans also gave the Tigers, who trailed by as many as 12, their own second chance, and the visitors happily took it, eking out a 55-53 road win with a Demetri Gentis game-winning layup in the closing moments.

“A tale of two halves,” Boardman head coach Steve Flores said. “I thought we came out, played one of our best halves of the season — our energy, our effort, especially on the defensive end, was tremendous. Again, kind of the story of our season, just putting four quarters together and having that consistency. That third quarter, we didn’t have the same energy, and that’s what let them back into the game and ultimately win.”

Possibly due to its senior night festivities, the Spartans’ energy overwhelmed the Tigers early on. Boardman, feasting on the offensive glass, went on a 14-2 run and built a double-digit lead in the opening quarter.

Howland managed a bit better in the second period, outscoring the Spartans 8-2 to start, but Boardman again took control and pushed its lead back to 12 before halftime.

During the break, Bubon said the Tigers’ locker room was a lively one.

“At halftime, we were down in the dumps, we were arguing with each other, everything was bad,” Bubon said. “One of my assistant coaches, who never gets mad, really got on them in there, and that might have woke them up.”

Howland dominated the third quarter, limiting the Spartans to just six points. The Tigers completely erased their deficit as Luca Naples led the Howland offense. Naples scored the first seven points of the quarter for the Tigers, who similarly benefited from Gentis’s eight points in the period, the final three of which gave Howland its first lead since two-and-half minutes into the game.

The teams traded the lead multiple times throughout the fourth quarter before Naples put the Tigers up five with 3:12 to go after Steven Bubon made a go-ahead 3-pointer. Boardman quickly battled back with five straight points in 37 seconds, tying the game on a Jerry Smith 3-pointer with 1:58 remaining.

In the final nearly two minutes, only two points were scored, as Howland’s Ta-Shawn Fambro missed a pair of free throws before Boardman’s Jayse Varley turned the ball over under his basket with 10 seconds remaining.

Seemingly content to allow his team decide the game, Dan Bubon let the clock slip under five seconds before calling timeout and drawing up a play that he said his team had not run this season. Despite the inexperience, Gentis, who inbounded the ball, and Carter Saul, the recipient, executed it to perfection, as Saul passed the ball back to Gentis before he drove to the basket and finished a layup with 1.4 seconds to go.

After an extended break because of a clock issue and timeouts, Jerry Smith, the game’s top scorer who went to the bench in the final minute due to cramping, missed his would-be game-winning heave at the buzzer.

Smith finished with 20 points on the night and was the only Spartan in double figures, while Howland had three: Naples (15 points), Fambro (13) and Gentis (12).

“Defensively, another breakdown,” Flores said of the final defensive possession. “Communication, attention to details. That kind of stuff is on me as the head coach. I got to do a better job communicating to the kids, and they have to do a better job executing.”

Friday’s win marked the end of the Tigers’ All-American Conference slate. Howland (10-8), which went winless in the AAC last year, finished this season’s league schedule with a 4-4 record. The Tigers will now turn their attention to East, who they host today at 2:30 p.m.

As for Boardman (5-12, 1-6 AAC), its conference finale is Monday, when the Spartans visit Austintown Fitch.