Tag Archive for: Howkand

TIGERS NEVER HAVE A DOUBT IN FINAL HOME GAME

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HOWLAND OH- In a commanding performance from start to finish, Howland showcased their strength and determination in their first tournament win on Tuesday, defeating Harvey with a decisive 65-44 victory. The Tigers displayed consistency and composure throughout the game, never relinquishing their control as they imposed their will on both ends of the court.

Leading the charge for Howland was John Perry, who delivered a stellar performance with a team-high 17 points, setting the tone for the Tigers’ offensive attack. TJ Douglas contributed 15 points, while Alex Henry added 11 points and Anthony Chieffo chipped in with 10 points, highlighting the balanced scoring effort that propelled Howland to victory.

With the win, Howland advances to the sectional final on Friday, where they will face a tough road matchup against Madison.

URSULINE SPINS AROUND TIGERS IN OVERTIME

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By Noah Ricks

 

YOUNGSTOWN, OH – The Howland Tigers and Ursuline Fighting Irish boys’ basketball teams put on a thrilling finish to the regular season in a game that would take an extra period to complete. The Irish did the right things at the right time as they would defeat the Tigers in overtime 62-53.

 

Howland gave the red hot Fighting Irish all they could ask for in a non-conference classic. They would take control of the game in the first half thanks in part to senior Alex Henry, who would pick up 9 first-quarter points, en route to a 21-point performance. The Tigers were able to take a 23-21 advantage heading into the locker room as senior John Perry tagged along his teammate Henry with 13 tallies.

 

Despite first half struggles, Ursuline would make huge adjustments in the second half, which revolved mainly around coach Keith Gunther’s son Jaylen. The true freshman Gunther exploded for 21 points in the second half and overtime, ending the contest leading all scorers with 23. He would also connect on back-to-back threes to give his team a 46-43 advantage in the fourth.

 

Henry would come up clutch, however, for Howland, as he would drain a tray near the end of regulation to tie up the scoring at 48-48. With a chance to win the game, the Tiger heroics came up just short as the Irish defense blocked Steven Bubon’s layup at the buzzer to keep the tie, sending Howland into their third overtime game of the season. Ursuline used the momentum to fire away with a 14-5 overtime period. Overall, between the fourth quarter and overtime, the Irish outscored the Tigers 27-17.

 

Ursuline ends their regular season with an 18-3 mark as they start their tournament run in the Sectional Semifinal against Cleveland Collinwood. Howland, with the hard-fought overtime defeat, will finish the regular season 11-11 with a home Sectional Semifinal game coming up against Painesville Harvey. Both games will tip-off at 7:00 P.M. this upcoming Tuesday.

 

You can watch interviews with Ursuline head coach Keith Gunther and Howland head coach Dan Bubon below.

COWBOYS NEVER STOP FIGHTING IN HOWLAND

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HOWLAND OH- Despite a slow start, Chaney showcased resilience and tenacity, grinding out a hard-fought 53-47 victory against Howland on Tuesday night.

JaShaun Holcomb led the way for Chaney with an impressive 24-point performance, demonstrating scoring prowess. Latrell Kimbrough contributed 13 points, while Austin Brown added 10 points to bolster Chaney’s offensive efforts.

Howland, putting up a strong fight, saw notable performances from Alex Henry, who scored 20 points, showcasing his scoring ability. TJ Douglas and John Perry also made valuable contributions, putting up 12 and 8 points respectively.

HOWLAND’S EXTRA INNING WALK OFF SPLITS SERIES WITH SPARTANS

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BOARDMAN OH- A walk-off left Boardman on the wrong end of a 3-2 defeat to Howland on Thursday.

The pitching was strong on both sides. Howland pitchers struck out five, while Boardman sat down six.

The Spartans got things moving in the first inning.

Alexia Spangler pitched Howland to victory. The ace lasted one and two-thirds innings, allowing zero hits and zero runs while striking out one and walking one.

Gabi Sferra took the loss for Boardman. Sferra allowed eight hits and three runs over five and a third innings, striking out six and walking one.

Brooke Tatar started the game for the Tigers. The fireballer allowed three hits and two runs over four and a third innings, striking out four

Tori Strines, Cami Goske, and Ava Freeborough all had one hit to lead Boardman. Boardman was sure-handed and didn’t commit a single error. Maddie Wymer made the most plays with six.

Zoe King went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead the Tigers in hits. Howland was sure-handed in the field and didn’t commit a single error. Kayla Campbell had the most chances in the field with six.

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TIGERS BLANK BULLDOGS IN POWERHOUSE MATCHUP

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HOWLAND OH- Howland didn’t shy away from the big test of welcoming in Poland on Monday night. The Tigers defense was up for the task as they stifled the Bulldogs offense, and earned the shutout victory 1-0.

Imogen DeBlois scored the only goal for Howland putting on the cape for her team and playing hero.  Ava Yannucci supplied the assist on the game winning goal.  Taylor Fairchild kept the Bulldogs off the board with 5 saves.

Howland is now 8-4-1 on the year and will continue their season with a matchup against Warren Harding next on the docket.

TIGERS TENNIS TRIUMPHED OVER JFK

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HIWKAND OH- The Howland girls tennis team found a ton of success Tuesday night as they took down Warren JFK 4-1.

RESULTS:

1st Singles – Halina Bakeris (H) defeated Ella Parry (J) 6-1 6-4
2nd Singles – Rylie Homa (H) defeated Sadie Moore (J) 6-0 6-0
3rd Singles – Hannah Williams (J) defeated Natalie Summers (H) 6-6 (7-4) 2-6 10-7
1st Doubles – Gianna Carbone/Ariana Malvasi (H) defeated Sami Berzonsk/Ava Schlosser (J) 6-0 6-0
2nd Doubles – Sydney Votino/Kaycie Bell (H) defeated Katie Plizga/Alexa Szykulski (J) 6-0 6-0
Howland gets right back on the court Wednesday host Padua. First serve set for 4:30.

SPARTANS ROLL AGAINST HOWLAND

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HOWLAND, OH – The Boardman Spartans had a rough couple of weeks where they have given up 40+ points twice in a row. They wanted to make sure to put that in the past going into their Week 4 matchup against Howland. In the end, the Spartans would completely flip the script. It was them that would score 40 points en route to a dominant 40-13 road victory over the Tigers. 

 

It only took the Spartans 1:05 into the game to get things going. Willy Torres would get 3 nice runs on the drive, including his 23-yard touchdown run to make it 6-0 Boardman (missed PAT) with 10:55 to go in the first. The Howland Tigers, though, found a gameplan to try to rid their offensive woes from the first three weeks. Coach Steve Boyle implemented a wildcat-like offense led by their star wide receiver Nicholas Leasure. The plan would start off great for the Tigers as they marched slowly but surely down the field to set up a goal-line situation. Howland’s Nolan Rudesill then ran it in from 2 yards out, the Tigers’ first opening-drive touchdown of the season. They tried to take the lead, but the extra point was blocked to keep it a 6-6 draw after one.

 

Boardman then completely shifted momentum with three second-quarter touchdowns. It started off with the Spartans moving the ball by slowing the game down, completely opposite from their opening drive. With a goal-line situation of their own, Tomas Andujar ran it in from 2 yards out to make it a 13-6 Boardman game. Things really started heating up for the Spartans when Kejuan Robinson went off. He first hauled in a 57-yard touchdown pass from Andujar and then a 25-yard touchdown one as the Spartans led by three scores heading into the break at 27-6. Robinson caught 9 passes for 126 yards (14.0 average) and 2 touchdowns. Andujar, on the other hand, went 11/13 (84.6%) for 155 yards and 3 passing touchdowns while gaining 110 yards on 20 carries (5.5 average).

 

Howland, though, came storming out of the gates to start the second half with more controlling wildcat action. An offense that had their best performance of the season so far with 236 total yards, they would put themselves in another goal-line set, with Leasure scoring a 2-yard touchdown to pull it back within two scores at 27-13. The Tigers would also be aided by 10 Spartan penalties for 105 yards. However, the Tigers had a tough time converting fourth downs and keeping key drives alive as they went 0/4 on the night.

 

Despite the adversity and a tough Howland defense, the Spartans just needed one spark. Facing a 4th & Long on the first play of the fourth quarter, Andujar connected with Torres for a 17-yard touchdown catch to pull it back up to three scores at 33-13. Then on the next drive for Boardman, Torres scampered down the field for a 26-yard to all but seal the dominating win. He would finish the night with 106 yards on 11 carries (9.6 average) for two rushing touchdowns along with his touchdown reception.

The Spartans will snap their two-game losing streak and improve to 2-2 on the year. They will look for two straight next week as they will travel to East. The Golden Bears (0-4) are coming off a 74-28 defeat to Akron Ellet. 

 

The Tigers will drop to 0-4 loss as they have now lost nine straight dating back to September 24th of last year. They will now welcome the West Branch Warriors to town next Friday night in a rematch of a thrilling 37-34 heartbreaking defeat last season. The Warriors (3-1) are coming off a convincing 38-14 victory over Ridgewood.



*Contributed By YSN’s Noah Ricks

FITCH GRABS ANOTHER CONFERENCE WIN

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AUSTINTOWN OH-

The All-American Conference (AAC) has had its fair share of great volleyball teams, so when conference battles happen, a little extra attention tends to shift to the hardwood. This edition of an AAC showdown occurred between The Austintown Fitch Falcons and The Howland Tigers.

When it comes to conference play, Fitch has been incredibly strong. Going into Thursday evenings matchup with The Tigers, Austintown carried a eight match winning streak against Howland, dating back to October 3rd, 2017. Also carrying a 9 match winning streak against The AAC and a 16-1 conference record in the last three years, Fitch is additionally looking for their third straight AAC championship. 

Both teams brought back their top kill getters from a season ago, as both Howland’s Courtney Clark (290 Kills) and Fitch’s Jocelyn Jourdan (405 Kills) return as senior leaders for their respective teams. Both teams also sported a winning record heading into Thursday, the first time that has occurred since September 10th, 2020. 

Setting the tone early, Fitch grabbed an early lead in Set 1, and the freshmen play of both Rylie Simons and Kylie Folkwein helped close out the opening set victory by a convincing nine points. Creating a ton of excitement for not just the present, but the future of Falcon volleyball. By Set 2, Austintown had momentum, they also had Iso Jo! As Jocelyn Jourdan had her motor running on full speed, swinging with incredible accuracy and closing out the set victory. 

The Falcons, now leading in sets 2-0, were looking to grab the match victory. However, throughout the night, the play of sophomores Sianna Dykes and Sonia Pitts was huge! As Dykes grabbed multiple kills in Set 3 and forced the closest set of the night. As The Tigers look back to get to their winning tradition, as 11-13 a year ago would be the first sub .500 season Howland volleyball would have since 2015, winning 16 games in 2021 and 20 games in 2019. 

Despite a valiant effort, Fitch proved to be too much, clinching the third set in a close 25-19 victory. Extending their win streak in the conference, Fitch (5-1) will continue a conference slate, welcoming in Boardman (2-3) next Thursday, September 8th. 

Howland (4-3) will be on the road again, this time to face The Cardinal Mooney Cardinals (4-2) also on September 8th. 

Set Scores

Fitch 25 – 16 Howland

Fitch 25 – 11 Howland

Fitch 25 – 19 Howland

Stats (Fitch)

Jocelyn Jourdan – 15 Kills, 8 Digs, 1 Assist, 1 Ace. 

Jordan Smith – 2 Kills, 6 Digs, 1 Assist,  2 Aces, 12 Service PTS.

Afton Roby – 10 Kills, 1 Dig, 1 Block. 

Rylie Simons – 2 Kills, 26 Assists, 13 Digs, 2 Aces, 1 Block. 

Kylie Folkwein –  3 Kills, 7 Digs, 1 Assist, 14 Service PTS, 3 Aces. 

Lillie Dilts – 9 Digs, 3 Assists,  1 Ace. 

Jordan Binion – 4 Kills, 1 Dig, 1 Block.

Julia Jordan – 3 Digs. 

Cierra Cable – 3 Digs. 

Avery Rosko – 3 Kills, 

Isabella DiRenzo – 1 Ace.

*Contributed By YSN’s Ty Bartell.

LEOPARDS SEIZE DISTRICT CROWN

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Contributed By Noah Ricks

ASHTABULA, OH – The student sections were packed on both sides at Ashtabula Lakeside as Howland and Louisville squared off for the second time this season. It was a highly anticipated district final as Louisville was trying to avenge a 71-65 loss to the Tigers on January 11th. Leopards coach Tom Siegfried knew what he had to do. He drew up an unstoppable game plan on both sides that paid off as Louisville dominated throughout most of the night and beat Howland 63-56 for their first district title since 1993. Siegfried took time to soak in the district victory

 

“Obviously it feels pretty good and just excited for these kids. They put a lot of work into it. It came from the program, and it’s really paying off tonight, so hopefully we can make tonight last for a long time.”

 

The game plan that Siegfried wrote was very strong in the first half as some good ball movement around the perimeter set up open looks for three point shots. It was exactly the right time for the Leopards players to have hot hands as they kept making shot after shot from beyond the arc. That kind of shooting helped set up a 38-point first half for Louisville. Learning from the lessons of the first meeting, Siegfried reflected on his adjustments.

 

“Well, we just guessed that they were going to box-and-one Will [Aljancic] again, so other guys had to step up, we had to share the ball. I thought Tyler [Boldon] and Hayden [Nigro], and honestly the whole team did a real nice job. Charlie [Roberts] hit a three, BG [Brayden Gross] did some good things underneath, and then Beau [Siegfried] came in and AJ [Lingenhoel] came in and did a nice job, so it was just a team effort.’’

 

The Leopards had a great guard game from players such as seniors Will Aljancic and Tyler Boldon and sophomore Hayden Nigro. They were the bread of the butter of the offense throughout the night. Boldon and Nigro paved the way for the three-point fest while Aljancic had a good dribble-drive game. They would all finish in double figures for the night. Siegfried was proud of how hard those three played.

 

“You know, I think it was just the idea of sharing the ball. I think they really realized, like, whoever the open guy was tonight, we’re going to trust each other and hit those open shots. Early on, it was Tyler, then it became Hayden a little bit. Will got his points as usual, but overall I think they just found the open guy tonight, and it really clicks. When he does that, you’re really hard to beat.”

 

The Tigers would claw their way through the deficit throughout the entire second half, and they gave Louisville a huge fight. Howland would start off the third quarter on a quick 6-0 run to cut the lead back down to 12. The rally was led by no other than senior Anthony Massucci. He gave everything he had to make it a game, including one stretch late in the fourth where his draining three pushed the game down to as little as seven. Massucci finished his final high school basketball game with 32 as Siegfried respected the kind of competitor his opponent’s top scorer was.

 

“Well, honestly, just holding him down a little bit in the first half was huge. He’s a great player, one of the best players in the state, there’s no question about it, and, you know, I just thought us getting off to a good start and hold him down, you see what he can do in the third and fourth. He’s a scorer in about five different ways and I just really give him a lot of credit and I hope he has a great future in basketball.”

 

The Leopards improve to 19-6 with the victory. They will claim their first district championship in 29 years as they will square off in the Regional Semifinals on Thursday against the winner of the CVCA-Glenville district final game tomorrow night. That game is slated for an 8:00 P.M. tip down at the Canton Civic Center. Siegfried and his team will pay attention to both teams as whoever wins helps determine the game plan.

 

“Well, we have got to figure out who it is. They’re both completely different teams, so, we’ll go over and watch tomorrow [at the Canton Fieldhouse] and see who we’re playing, and then we’re going to get after it again. I told the guys before the game, this isn’t the third of three, this is the first of three, and we want to go to Columbus or Dayton or wherever [the State tournament] is at this year.”

 

Howland ends a strong campaign at 15-10 with their first district final appearance since 2004. This has been the farthest that coach Dan Bubon has gone in the tournament in his six seasons of coaching the Tigers. YSN’s Noah Ricks would like to thank Coach Bubon, the five seniors heading out in Anthony Massucci, Cam Miles, Grant Brown, Gabe Bedea, and Bobby Sullivan, girls’ coach Aaron Pounds, the seniors on the girls’ team in Alyssa Pompelia, Jamie DeSalvo, Taylor Lawrence, and Catherine Gaiski, and the entire Howland community for their hospitality throughout the entire season. It truly has been fun watching the community get together and support their teams on the hardwood. He wishes both teams the best of luck next year as they will both look to go on deeper runs into the tournament.

 

Ricks also got a chance to talk to winning coach Tom Siegfried following tonight’s district victory. You can watch the full interview below.