By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

The end does not have a date stamped onto it yet.

Whenever it does, though, Kelsey Bittecuffer is already convinced that it will not have been long enough.

The Rootstown girls basketball standout is playing inside her final weeks of high school basketball.

It is a heavy thought for all seniors, but for the Rovers’ point guard is loving every moment of it.

Her smile tells the story.

It sparkles because of everything basketball has been for her.

More specifically, her lifetime.

As the daughter of a coach and athletic trainer, Bittecuffer has been in a gymnasium since the day she was born.

“I honestly don’t really remember a time when basketball was not part of my life,” Bittecuffer said.

Her love for the game began to grow from those early years, watching from the sideline, listening to the locker room game plans and speeches, looking up to players who she viewed as role models.

Basketball was a sport, but before she maybe even truly realized it, it was also a family connection and a pathway to learning that the sport had a power that transcended wins and losses.

She discovered a lot of that while spending time as a youngster inside the Rootstown gymnasium.

Not as a student, but as a shadow to her father, Chip, who was the Rovers’ girls basketball head coach from 2014-18, and while playing youth basketball for the Rovers because of her father’s involvement with the program.

By high school, however, Bittecuffer’s time playing with her Rootstown teammates ended. She had attended the Chapel Hill Christian School in Akron, then enrolled at CVCA.

After two years with the Royals, Bittecuffer found herself missing the group of friends who had made basketball so enjoyable from the start.

Her Rootstown Rovers.

“The moment I walked back into that gym, I felt like I was back home,” Bittecuffer said. “I remember Addy (Germann) running up to me to give me a huge hug, and so many of the other girls were right there with her; Porter (Smith), Abby (White), Brooke (McIntyre), Nadia (Lough). They were all so welcoming and it felt like I had never been away from them.

“I had grown up with all of them, and we had grown so close,” Bittecuffer added. “When I was back with them again, I immediately felt like I was right where I was supposed to be.”

On the court, she seamlessly transitioned right back into the mix, helping the Rovers win their third consecutive Portage Trail Conference championship in 2023-24.

The program’s quest for a three-peat was delivered an interesting challenge, when Lough, the team’s captain, leading scorer, top rebounder and overall engine, tore the ACL in her left knee during the off-season.

Determined to not let the injury derail the team’s lofty goals for 2024-25, Bittecuffer, and others, stepped into a more prominent role to help guide the Rovers to a perfect 8-0 start in Lough’s absence. On the season, Bittecuffer is averaging 11.2 points, 2.2 assists and 3.1 steals per game, while also leading the team in made free throws (43).

“She really stepped up on both the offensive and defensive end,” Rootstown girls basketball head coach Joe Leonard said. “With Nadia out, we felt teams could key on our shooters and Kelsey made that assignment more difficult for our opponents. As a coach’s daughter, she is very knowledgeable about the game and has good insights and ideas. She is an extension of the staff when she is on the floor.

“When Nadia was out, it was important to have a leader who could push the tempo when we needed or to slow it down.”

It is the same thing Bittecuffer wishes she had the power to do to time itself.

“I feel like I missed the middle part of my life with these girls. I need more time with them. They mean the world to me. They are not just my teammates, they are my sisters, and I want to cherish every moment with them for the rest of the season.”