By Phil Keren

Correspondent

A strong second quarter propelled Streetsboro to a 63-51 Metro Athletic Conference win over Field on Thursday night in Brimfield.

Rockets head coach Nick Marcini said he was glad to earn a victory against a well-coached team in a difficult environment.

“Coming down here is a tough place to come in and play,” Marcini said. “It’s definitely a homecourt advantage for them/ Any time you’re playing on the road in the league, you just want to go down there and get a win and get out of there.”

The first quarter gave the hometown crowd plenty of reasons to cheer. Field went on a 7-0 run to take a 16-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. Field senior guard Brayden Ronowski made a runner and a 3-pointer during that stretch.

“We came out a little sluggish for whatever reason,” said Marcini. “Kids will be kids. We didn’t have our greatest start. Give Field a lot of credit. They played hard. (Field senior guard Grady) Eader’s a great player. They handled the pressure well.”

Noting that his team likes to play an uptempo style, Marcini said Field did a good job slowing the pace and creating a halfcourt game that challenged his team.

“They were executing their stuff and making some buckets,” Marcini said. “They were controlling the tempo a little bit, kept it to more of a halfcourt game.”

Even though the pace wasn’t to its liking, Streetsboro found plenty of ways to score in the second quarter. Thanks to a combination of drives, offensive rebounds and 3-pointers, the Rockets outscored the Falcons 20-7 in the second period to take a 33-23 halftime lead.

Streetsboro took the lead for good when senior guard Jack Batten canned a 3 to put his team ahead, 20-18. Batten made another 3-pointer and scored on a putback, while junior swingman Janiere Cook tallied a baseline layup and a fastbreak layup, and senior forward Preston Laryea had a pair of buckets.

At intermission, Marcini urged his players to take a more aggressive approach on the offensive end.

“I challenged the guys a little bit at halftime,” Marcini said. “I thought we were settling for a lot of jump shots in the first half. They weren’t going in.”

In the third quarter, each team took turns going on scoring runs. Streetsboro led things off with a 10-2 spurt that resulted in a 43-25 advantage with about three-and-a-half minutes remaining.

Those 10 points came from a driving layup and a trey from senior guard Charles Ivory, a lay-in by junior guard Ethan Laryea, and a driving layup by Preston Laryea.

Not to be outdone, Field closed out the third period on a 9-1 run to trim Streetsboro’s lead to 44-34. Field junior Sam Confer scored an old-fashioned three-point play, senior Landon Wilmoth nailed a modern 3-pointer, and Ronowski knocked in a bank shot.

Field was unable to whittle Streetsboro’s lead below double-digits, however. The Rockets started strong in the fourth period, putting together a 10-3 run that gave them a 54-37 advantage with a little more than three minutes left. Following Marcini’s instructions, the Rockets scored at the rim throughout most of the fourth quarter. Streetsboro’s first and last field goals of the period were 3-pointers, but the other six baskets consisted of four layups and two shots from a few feet away. Ivory scored six points during the quarter, while Batten, senior forward Jackson Gula and junior Braden Hodge each had three.

Marcini said he was pleased to see his team operating in an attack mode in the second half.

“I thought Charles (Ivory) did a great job getting to the bucket, I thought Trevor (Murray) had a couple nice takes, got to the free throw line a couple times,” Marcini noted. “…(We were) just playing harder, getting to the bucket. Jackson did a good job finishing the game. He had a couple takes. (It was) good to see them respond.”

Batten led the Rockets with 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Ivory scored 15 and Preston Laryea added 10.

Field senior guard Grady Eader led his squad with 18 points, while Ronowski had 11.