By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

With Rootstown and host Navarre Fairless tied 63-63 and only 0.4 seconds left in regulation Feb. 2, the Rovers’ Landon Rodstrom was at the free-throw line after getting fouled by while going for a layup.

Shannon Eldreth/Special to Portage Sports

The senior forward missed the first free throw, but made the second, giving the visitors a one-point lead.

The Falcons called a timeout but, needing to go the full length of the court, ran out of time.

Rootstown won 64-63. The Rovers are now 10-8.

“We struggled early on defending some things, not rotating our defense,” head coach Joe Siciliano said. “We’ve been trying to switch up defenses here and there, and it kind of hurt us a little bit in rotations and not getting our traps.”

Rootstown’s 32-27 halftime lead disappeared quickly as Fairless forged ahead 43-42 entering the fourth quarter. It was back and forth from that point on.

While Rodstrom wound up with five points and a whopping 14 rebounds, three junior guards were also key contributors — Blake Mullaly (19 points, 7 rebounds) and Carson Hayn and Caleb Fillmore (9 points each).

“Blake was trying to rush things and force shots early on,” said Siciliano. “He really came alive in the second half, settled down and scored 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, with a few down the stretch to keep us within reach and put us ahead a few times.

“Carson was pretty consistent all game long defending and getting to the rim when he needed to. He’s been finding different ways to score and contribute.

“Caleb hadn’t really played the same since coming back from a concussion a couple weeks ago. He finally settled down in this game and had a big steal and dunk in the third quarter that gave us some energy that we needed.”