WARREN — Earlier in the season, Boardman coach Pat Birch felt like his team played tentative when it had a lead.

It was worthwhile as tonight when their big lead disappeared and momentum was lost, the Spartans played through it to come away with a 54-43 win over the Warren G. Harding Raiders in an All-American Conference matchup.

“I think we were just trying to be smart,” Birch said. “It’s hard playing with the lead a little bit because you want to be aggressive but you don’t want to be dumb. I thought our guys did a good job of balancing that tonight.

“There were probably a couple of shots I wouldn’t take looking back, but you want to be aggressive when you’re open. With the lead, you still have to play.”

The Spartans (11-3, 5-0) did exactly that from the opening tip as they built a 17-8 lead after one quarter.

Boardman slowed the pace and ran most of its offensive sets to perfection with seven players getting into the scoring column in that opening frame.

D.J. Evans led the Spartans with 13 points and Spencer Smith added 11 as all-in-all, eight Boardman players scored.

“That’s always nice obviously,” Birch said. “You get comfortable. Our first possession was a nice easy look for us. I thought we played really good in that first quarter defensively. They found their footing in the second quarter and were pretty much even.”

Harding (1-7, 1-3) got into early foul trouble and sat a couple of starters.

“We kind of knew what they were going to do,” Harding coach Keelyn Franklin said. “They’re a good team and executed. It took us a little while to kind of do what we wanted to do defensively.

“It didn’t surprise us. I just think our lack of focus to start the game allowed them to get out and do what they did.”

The teams played the second quarter even with Boardman holding a 25-15 lead at the half.

The cold-shooting teams were a combined 4-for-20 shooting in the period.

“I thought we really bogged down in that second quarter,” Birch said. We got a little unsure of what we wanted to do. They started getting some second chance points. At halftime, we’re up 10 and it felt like they had some life.”

The third quarter swung back the other way in favor of the Spartans and Birch felt like his team had control of this game again with Evans’ 7 points.

Boardman held a 43-31 lead heading into the final quarter despite Ethan Anderson picking up his third foul with 6:35 left in the quarter.

Then, Harding’s Johnny Graham made a 3 to start the quarter, along with buckets from Dom Foster and Ty Pennington to make it 46-41 with two minutes left.

“I’m like how did that happen,” Birch said. “Give them credit. They started hitting some shots. We had a chance to get some rebounds and they slipped through our hands. That made a difference. We made some free throws though and got out of here.”

Boardman finished the game on an 8-2 run with Smith coming up big with back-to-back 3s to stop any chance of a heroic comeback from the Raiders.

Foster led the Raiders with 14 points and Aston Bates added 10.

“Our guys kind of showed a little bit of that will,” Franklin said. “They just dug in and began to fight back. They said we’re not going to get blown out tonight. We’re going to put our feet in the dirt, go hard, and try to get some points in transition. We made some shots too, which always helps your defensive energy. I was proud of the ability to respond to some adversity.”

For Birch and the Spartans after playing on Friday, this was a big win that puts them in a good spot in the conference.

“When you go on the road in the conference and get a double digit win, that is not easy,” Birch said. “I sometimes think we take it for granted what it means to get these types of wins. It puts us in a good position moving forward. I hope these guys appreciate that they are getting to play. So to come in here and get a win is huge.”