The Boardman Spartans's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their fifth straight loss. They took a 57-52 hit to the loss column at the hands of John F. Kennedy Catholic. While losing is never fun, Boardman can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 442nd, while John F. Kennedy Catholic is ranked 14th).
Grayson Eicher and Noah Ziak certainly did their best on Friday to try and avoid the loss. Eicher scored 14 points along with eight rebounds, while Ziak scored 12 points. Those 14 points set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Nico Holzschuh, who scored eight points.
John F. Kennedy Catholic's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jaden Rishel led the charge by scoring 20 points. The matchup was Rishel's ninth in a row with at least ten points. Michael Condoleon was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with six assists and six rebounds.
Boardman's loss was their third straight at home, which bumped their record down to 3-5. As for John F. Kennedy Catholic, the victory (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 8-1.
Boardman will head out on the road to face off against Canfield at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in Canfield's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last four matchups. As for John F. Kennedy Catholic, they will be playing at home against Badger at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Badger is coming into the match hot, having won their last six games.
