Correspondent photo / Lowell Spencer Boardman’s Mackenzie Riccitelli drives to the paint while Canfield’s Grace McQuiston applies defense.

CANFIELD – The All-American Conference will be a battle every night when members play each other. The Boardman Spartans squeezed out a hard-fought and exciting 46-41 victory over the Canfield Cardinals on the Cardinals’ home court Wednesday night as an example of how the conference games will be intense this year.

“We haven’t beaten Canfield in about eight years,” Spartans senior guard Sam Duble said. “We remembered that, and we went out there and remedied that tonight.”

“This was huge. Coach Reel and I were talking before the game that we think that this year is the best the league has been in a long time. Every team in the league is over five hundred. But the one thing I learned about my team tonight is that we had a little bit of adversity, and we responded well. If we can do that, I will be happy with the result,” Spartans head Coach Jeff Hammerton said.

With the victory, the Spartans improved to 8-2 overall on the season and 1-0 in the league. The Cardinals, coming off an emotional last-second win Saturday over West Branch, are now 6-4, 0-1 in the conference.

“It was one of those back-and-forth games. It was a really good game,” Cardinals head coach Matt Reel. “I felt for most of the game they were hungrier for the rebounds, and that was a big factor in the game. They made some big shots in big moments in the second half, and we didn’t make the big shots, which was the difference in the game.”

Trailing by as many as seven points at 36-29 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Spartans battled back to take the lead at 37-36 with 3:06 remaining in the contest when Sam Duble hit her fourth three of the night. Mackenzie Riccitelli hit a basket just a minute later to bolster the Spartans advantage to 39-36.

The two teams traded baskets until Riccitelli converted two free throws with only 18.9 seconds remaining, making it a two-possession, 44-40 advantage for the Spartans. Jenna Triveri hit one of two free throws to cut the deficit to 44-41, but Sarah Bero sealed the game with two charity shots with only 4.3 seconds left to make the final 46-41 score.

Duble set the tone for the Spartans from the opening tip-off as she knocked down two consecutive threes to stake them to a quick 6-0 lead by the 5:20 mark of the first quarter. But the Cardinals responded with treys from Camryn Hritz and Camie Dill to tie the contest at 6-6 by 4:29. Duble connected on her third shot from behind the arc with just 1:20 left in the period to help stake the Spartans to a 12-6 lead at the close of the frame.

“I just knew when I stepped out on the court, I knew I was going to have a big game,” Duble said. “I felt good. And my teammates, they had my back, and I had their back.

“That was huge, especially on the road and in an environment like this,” Hammerton added. “They do such a great job with their team of locking them in defensively. I think when we played them here last year, we were down 17-0 before we even scored. The message in the locker room was that we need to start quickly.”

By the 1:20 mark of the second quarter, the Cardinals took their first lead in the contest at 18-17 when Treveri again connected on one of two free throws. Another three by Dill pushed the Cardinals’ lead out to 24-19 by the halftime break.

“They had us going quicker than we wanted to be,” Reel said. “But when we slowed it down and started playing at our pace, we had some success.”

Both teams traded baskets to start the second half as both squads tightened up their defense. Following a basket by the Grace McQuiston at the 1:43 mark of the period, the Cardinals had reached their game-high, seven-point advantage at 33-26. However, Riccitelli responded with her second three of the night with 1:12 left in the quarter to cut the deficit down to just 33-29 in the Cardinals’ favor.

“I love our team, I really do. And I think sometimes our youth shows up a little bit. The effort we gave was great. Mentally, I don’t think we are as good as we can be. This group is resilient, and we will be fine,” Reel said.

The season doesn’t get any easier for the Spartans as they play West Branch in their next game Saturday. The Cardinals will also be back in action Saturday when they play at Fitch in another All-American contest.

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