By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

The Ravenna boys basketball team has a defensive mindset.

Thus it was no surprise that the Ravens came out of the gate in their season opener Nov. 26 at home against Newton Falls “hungry and wanting to gets stops,” according to head coach Justin Rahim.

“That led to us being able to offensively get out in transition and get some layups. I thought the defensive intensity was there, the energy was there.”

The result?

A convincing 68-50 Ravenna victory in which the home team was able to limit the Tigers to single-digits in points the second and fourth quarters.

“That second quarter,” Rahim said, “we were able to get out and expand the lead.”

The main reason?

Senior guard Ziare Sanders tallied 14 of his 16 points that period.

“Ziare has a motor,” said the coach. “He wants to get after it, he’s a gamer. When the lights come on, he’s ready to go. We didn’t run anything specifically for him. It was just all in the flow of the game.”

CJ Ross, another senior guard, scored 24 points and hauled down seven boards.

“CJ played a well-rounded game,” Rahim said. “He had varsity experience the last three years, so he’s used to the moment. We didn’t run anything special for him either. He just got some offensive rebounds and some layups and was able to get downhill and just do the little things on the basketball court. That’s what we expect from him.”

ROOTSTOWN

Junior guards Blake Mullaly and Dean Abdlrasul led the way for Rootstown Nov. 28 at

home in the Rovers’ season-opening 75-34 rout of Middlefield Cardinal.

Mullaly scored 25 points and had eight rebounds despite being in foul trouble all night, while Abdlrasul scored 20 points.

“Blake was very efficient from the field, utilizing every opportunity he had when he was in there,” head coach Joe Siciliano said. “Dean is a very natural athlete who can create and score in space. A lot of his points came in transition, him just attacking the basket and finishing at the rim.”

Caleb Fillmore, another junior, added eight points in making a triumphant return to the

court after missing last season due to an injury.

“It took a little bit of time for Caleb to settle back in,” said Siciliano, but he was huge for us and reignited us in the third quarter.”

It was all Rootstown from the very start. The Rovers led 25-9 after the first quarter, 40-19 at the half and 64-31 after the third quarter.

“We were up 21-2 at one point … It was a good way to start the season.”

Four nights later, on Dec. 2 again at home, Rootstown lost 76-61 to Massillon Tuslaw.

The Rovers held a slim lead at halftime but were outscored 20-8 in the third quarter, digging a hole too deep from which to recover.

“We played pretty solid for the first two-and-a-half quarters, but then we kind of fell apart from there,” Siciliano said. “We went into halftime knowing we were going to be in a bit of a dog fight, that we had to remain tough. We came out in the third quarter pretty well, but once Tuslaw started scoring on us, we kept spiraling out of control and couldn’t get it back. When things get tough, we have to make sure we match that toughness, and we were not very mentally tough when things started to go bad.”

KENT ROOSEVELT

Head coach Curtis Black attributed his Kent Roosevelt team’s 77-51 season-opening defeat at Jackson Nov. 28 to nothing more than first-game jitters.

“We had, I believe, 19 turnovers, probably nine of them in the first quarter,” said Black, whose Rough Riders already trailed 25-9 entering the second quarter. Kent Roosevelt closed the gap to 36-26 at halftime, but the Polar Bears, led by sensational guard Kaiden Loy, had a huge third period — including 15-of-17 from the field — to put the game on ice, leading 69-38 entering the fourth.

“Jackson’s No. 12 (Loy) probably had the best shooting night I’ve seen in high-school basketball; he was 12-of-14 from the field with 30 points. He had a heck of a night.”

Leading the way for Kent Roosevelt were senior forwards Gavin Peeps and Emanuel Churn. Peeps scored 17 points and had nine rebounds, four steals, two blocked shots and an assist, while Churn totaled 11 points, five boards and an assist.

“Gavin is pretty much a hybrid; he plays all over the floor,” Black said. “He played with an energy. He might’ve had all nine or at least the majority of our points in the first quarter. He played the game we know he’s capable of playing, and that’s nothing new for him, this being essentially his third year as a starter. He’s our most experienced guy.

“Emanuel is another senior leader of ours. He’s probably one of our next most experienced guys. It’s no surprise he and Gavin led the charge for us. We expect on a nightly basis for those two to be up there numbers-wise and leadership wise.”