By Phil Keren

Correspondent

On Friday, Streetsboro ran into a Woodridge squad that was hungry to avenge a 22-point loss to the Rockets in December.

The Bulldogs did exactly that, defeating the Rockets by 22, 63-41.

After maintaining a single-digit lead through the first three quarters, Woodridge (10-5) outscored Streetsboro (12-3) 34-15 in the second half and closed the game on a 16-0 run.

Streetsboro head coach Nick Marcini credited Woodridge with outworking his team in a game that was the Rockets’ first loss in Metro Conference play.

“They were playing harder,” Marcini said. “Getting every 50-50 ball, killing us on the offensive glass. They were just getting downhill and just beating us. They just took it for the course of the game … they just played harder and better than we did and they kicked our butt.”

On the other sideline, Woodridge first-year head coach Ian Adams said he and his staff encouraged their players to match Streetsboro’s hard-nosed defensive style.

“We wanted to set the tone defensively and say listen, they’re going to be up in our stuff and we’re going to give it right back to them and we want to see how they react,” Adams said. “I think that really set the tone early and we got a few offensive rebounds early which really sparked us. When we’re attacking the offensive glass it really adds another layer to us. We’ve got guys that can get shots up and then you add that second-chance piece into it and it really lets our possessions linger a bit.”

A hard-fought first half consisted of 12 lead changes and three ties. Both teams scored in their half-court sets and played tenacious defense that created turnovers. With Woodridge leading 15-14 early in the second quarter, Streetsboro senior guard Charles Ivory made his first foul shot and missed his second but the Rockets secured the offensive rebound.

Senior guard Trevor Murray then fed the ball to senior forward Jackson Gula for a layup and a 17-15 Streetsboro lead. It would be the Rockets’ last lead of the contest. Woodridge then went on a 7-2 run during the next three and a half minutes to take a 22-19 lead.

The Bulldogs’ points came on a layup from senior Nassir Abdullah, a 3-pointer from senior Gavin Lynch and a putback by freshman Carter Maxa. Ivory made a three-pointer to even the score at 22, but Woodridge sophomore Kellen Morr answered with a traditional three-point play.

Woodridge continued to maintain a single-digit lead in the third quarter and through the first half of the fourth period. With about 4:40 left in the game, Murray canned two free throws to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 47-41. Woodridge then used a combination of drives to the hoop, putbacks and layups off of turnovers to close out the game on a 16-0 run.

Eight of those points were scored by junior Branden Evans on three layups and a pair of free throws.

Marcini credited Woodridge’s defense with keeping his team’s uptempo offense under wraps.

“They did a great controlling the tempo and just being tougher and physical,” Marcini said. “I thought we did a good job executing early on with the slips and stuff…I thought they did a good job of getting more physical with us.”

He noted his team had trouble scoring in the paint and added the Bulldogs scored a lot on offensive rebounds.

“I think most of their outside shots came off of offensive rebounds and kick-outs,” Marcini said.

Woodridge turned in a balanced scoring effort as Evans scored 14 points, Lynch tallied 13, junior Connor Hons recorded 11 and Morr and Abdullah had 9 each.

“They’re getting so much better working as a unit,” Adams said. “Our box scores the last couple games have been so balanced. Gavin really sparks us with his three-point shooting and he’s shooting with a lot of confidence right now and then Kellen and Branden are really good attacking in our offense that we’re working… Connor’s like a do-it-all glue guy for us. Some games he’s just a rebounder and he has no points but he’s affecting the game in a multitude of ways. Other times he can step out, like tonight he had a few drives in the first half where he was able to rip through.”

Despite the loss, Streetsboro still sits on top of the Metro Conference standings with a 9-1 record and Woodridge is a half-game behind at 9-2. Marcini said he reminded his team that they can earn the conference championship by winning their four remaining league games.

“It’s a long season,” Marcini said. “It’s about a body (of work), it’s not about one game … there’s four games left in the league. All you got to do is you just take care of business against four teams you’ve already beat.”

Gula led the Rockets in scoring with 17 points, while Ivory had 9 and senior guard Jack Batten tallied 7.