Coming off a pair of losses last week to Canfield and Poland, Boardman looked to rebound against an undefeated Raiders team as a young Spartans roster still looks to find its footing.

Despite having multiple chances to tie or potentially take a lead, Boardman fell by a final of 48-44 against the Raiders.

For first-year coach Brett Green, it’s about having to put together a cohesive package.

“We want to put together a whole game, and not just moments,” he said. “We got to do some things early in the first quarter, we missed too many wide open layups. I mean we’re getting the looks, we’re just not finishing, but we’re going to get better with that tomorrow.”

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Boardman sophomore Bella Martin hauls in a defensive rebound during the second half.

Prior to the contest, both teams honored the life of Christine Terlesky. A former coach and teacher and a 1991 graduate of Boardman High School, she died on Dec. 26 after a seven-year battle with ALS.

Her family was brought to center-court before tipoff, as Boardman presented them a plaque honoring her, alongside a game ball that was signed by both the Spartans and Raiders.

Neither team found rhythm early offensively as Harding senior Alasha Williams knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give her team a 9-3 lead going into the second quarter.

Later on, Harding went on a 10-0 run before halftime, which was capped off by a three-point play by sophomore Selena Williamson to make it 22-10 in favor of the visitors going into the locker room.

The Raiders led by as much as 26-10 in the third, but Boardman kept chipping away at the deficit, as a strong defensive effort held Harding scoreless during the final 3:06 of the third quarter. That allowed the Spartans to go on an 8-0 run, including two big baskets by senior Katie Stamp, to slash the score down to 34-31.

Fellow senior Raegan Burkey opened the fourth with a bucket to make it a one-point contest, but Harding senior Faith Burch knocked down a massive 3-pointer to end the Raiders’ prolonged scoring drought at the 5:56 mark to make it 37-33.

“Personally, I feel like I did good,” said Burch, after scoring a game-high 16 points. “I locked in, I kind of just zoned in and, like we got to get a win, so I took it personally.”

She scored eight points in the final period to help put away Boardman.

Harding (8-0) coach Frank Caputo knew that Burch was going to be the to prevent a Spartans upset.

“She’s our constant, she’s 100 percent hustle all the time, sprinting up and down the floor,” he said. “She was struggling a little bit in the beginning, but her mental state has been so much better. She keeps herself mentally in the game all the time.”

Burch was followed Williamson with 12 points and Williams who scored 10.

The Raiders have quality wins over McDonald and Liberty, but the delayed start means there’s still catching up to do.

“It affected us a lot with conditioning and just getting in rhythm,” Burch said. “It’s different from practicing and being in a game, so it was hard but we’re getting into rhythm game-by-game.”

Stamp and Burkey led Boardman (3-11) with 14 and 11, respectively.

For Green and the Spartans, it’s about identifying the situation.

“It comes down to finishing and being in the moment,” he said. “To be able to realize how much time is on the clock, what the score is, not rushing anything and just taking a breath sometimes.”

When it’s all said and done, Caputo is pleased to walk away with a road victory.

“I’m real happy with them. Anytime you still got the zero on the one end you’ve got to be happy,” he said. “But, we just have to keep focusing on important moments and we’ll get through it like we did tonight.”