By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

It was a battle for first place. That’s about as good as it gets in the world of sports.

And, moreover, the game lived up to its billing.

The Streetsboro girls basketball team and visiting Metro Athletic Conference rival Norton both brought 7-0 conference records into the Jan. 17 game. The contest was close from start to finish. The Rockets wound up on the losing end by a score of 54-48. They are now 10-4 overall.

The home team had a 9-7 lead after one quarter, trailed by five points both at halftime and after three quarters before embarking on a nice run and forging ahead by four midway through the final period.

“Once we got that lead,” head coach Carl Singer said, “we let Norton come back at us, and they were able to take a little bit of a lead again. Then it went back and forth, and we had to foul at the end, and they hit their free throws. Norton is obviously a really good team, so we knew it was going to be a battle, and it was exactly that. It could’ve gone eighter way at the end.”

Pacing Streetsboro were senior forwards Carlee Bedford and Ava Bodovetz.

Bedford scored 14 points and had nine rebounds, while Bodovetz hung up 13 points and six boards.

“When we needed some buckets throughout the game, Carlee was able to take it on her shoulders a little bit and make some big plays underneath,” said Singer. “She’s always big for us on the offensive rebounding, but she definitely stepped up on defense, too, made some big plays on that end of the floor that kind of got us going.

“Ava did a really nice job around the basket, making some tough buckets,” said the coach. “She got off to a little bit of a slow start this season, but she’s stepped up lately and had a couple nice games. We’ve needed that from her.”

Freshman guard Ma’Ryah McIntosh scored nine points, and senior guard Olivia Johnson-Wilson had eight points.

Despite the tough defeat, Singer believes his team is hitting its stride at the right time.

Chances are he’s got Feb. 2 circled on the calendar.

At Norton.

ROOTSTOWN

Colbie Curall saw limited playing time, but the senior forward still managed 16 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals in leading Rootstown to a 65-47 win Jan. 17 at home over Revere.

The Rovers are now 13-2 on the season.

“A lot of times girls score 20 points, but they play 32 minutes,” head coach Joe Leonard said. “Colbie did all of that in 21 minutes. She was very athletic, aggressive. She just had an overall really good game.”

“We jumped out to a lead, but Revere fought back,” said Leonard of his team that was up 21-11 after one quarter, 39-22 at the half and 55-31 after three quarters. “They kept making charges and trying to make it interesting, but we’d respond. We shot the ball better than we had been, so that was good to see. We played well defensively, too.”

Senior forward Cloe Bengston scored 12 points and had two assists, four steals and two blocked shots, while junior guard Bailey Kidd had 11 points, four rebounds and three steals.

“Cloe has really been working hard on her shooting, and it has gotten better as the season has gone on. It was nice to see her have an offensive game like that,” Leonard said. “But she is, as they say, a next-level defensive player. She’s just so aggressive and so physical. The effort is always there.

“Bailey really played well coming in off the bench. She shot the ball well. She’s somebody who is first in the gym, last out of the gym and just really works hard. It was also nice to see that she had an offensive game like that.”

AURORA

An explosive second quarter was the lighter fluid behind the rocket launch in Aurora’s 60-28 rout Jan. 17 at home over Mogadore.

The Greenmen, who are now 13-4 on the season, outscored the Wildcats 30-6 in the second quarter to turn a 12-11 lead after one quarter into a 42-17 bulge at halftime. Aurora put it in cruise control in the second half.

“In that second quarter we really tried to push the ball in transition, and then our shots were falling,” head coach Erika Greenberg said. “We moved the ball really well and were able to get some open looks that fell. That was a really good quarter for us.”

Leading the way for Aurora was senior guard Addison Witting, who scored 13 points.

With 10 points apiece were junior shooting guard Jillian Monastero and sophomore forward Reese Witting, Addison’s sister.

“Addison moved the ball, shot it really well and played great defense,” said Greenberg. “Mogadore’s point guard is really good. I thought Addison did a really good job on her. She had a good game.

“Jill ran the floor really well, crashed the offensive glass well and shot the ball well.

“Reese did a really good job controlling the paint, and she got some really good looks inside with some offensive rebounds and putbacks.”

GARFIELD

A few days off after three games in four days, each of them tight, high-intensity affairs — including two within 16 hours of each other — was just the medicine Garfield needed to recharge.

The result?

A 58-21 win Jan. 16 at Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference rival Liberty.

The G-Men are now 9-5 overall and 7-3 in the MVAC.

“You could tell the girls were a little bit fresher,” head coach Aaron Gilbert said. “They came out strong in the first quarter and really didn’t turn back after that. We shot the ball really well. We finally had our legs under us, and it definitely showed.”

Usually the G-Men rely heavily on Mandy Cardinal when it comes to scoring. The senior guard didn’t disappoint against the Wolverines, totaling 15 points (including three 3-pointers) to go with five rebounds, two assists and a steal. However, junior guard Charlee Hill took some of the pressure off of Cardinal in the game by tallying 21 points (including five 3-pointers) and also had two rebounds and three steals.

“Charlee finally shot the ball with confidence. Her first five makes were all threes. She got some good looks,” said Gilbert. “It was just one of those confidence games for her where she came out and shot the ball well and just continued playing well throughout the whole game, taking a little bit of the scoring edge off of Mandy. It was nice for her to have some help and not have to work as hard.”

FIELD

According to head coach John Misenko, his Field team was a little flat for the first two to three minutes of its home game Jan. 17 against Metro Athletic Conference (MAC) rival Springfield.

“We hadn’t played in five days,” he said. “I called a timeout, and then the girls figured it out.”

An 8-3 lead after one quarter quickly ballooned into a 27-3 lead at the half and a 43-5 advantage after three quarters en route to a 50-12 triumph.

“The second and third quarters were the turning point,” said Misenko of his squad that is now 8-7 overall and 4-4 in the MAC.

Pacing the Falcons were sophomore guard Audrey Richmond and senior forward Morgan Stoicoiu.

Richmond scored 23 points (including five 3-pointers) and had four rebounds and two steals, while Stoicoiu had 14 points (including three 3-pointers), seven rebounds and four steals.

“Audrey and Morgan both played really well,” Misenko said. “They shot the ball well. That was the difference for us. When both of them shoot well together, that helps. They feed off of each other. Springfield played a zone, so we were able to move the basketball. Both of them basically got all the shots that they wanted, and they made them.”

Sophomore point guard Peyton Schock was a big reason that Richmond and Stoicoiu got good looks.

“Peyton was able to attack the gap and get the defense moving, and then when she kicked the ball out, Audrey and Morgan were ready to shoot the basketball, and they did.”

Schock wound up with seven assists to go with four points.

MOGADORE

Junior guard Kasey Bolyard scored 20 points and had three rebounds and three steals in Mogadore’s Jan. 17 game at Aurora.

“Kasey is a gamer. She wants to win,” head coach Jen Ritch said. “She’s super competitive, and she’ll do anything within her power to try to make that happen. She works very hard at her game.”

Unfortunately for Ritch, her team was outscored by the Greenmen in a 60-28 defeat. The Wildcats slipped to 6-10 on the season.

“We actually played a really good first quarter, a really good first quarter,” said Ritch of her team that trailed just 12-11 entering the second period. “But then we got in foul trouble, and I had to start subbing. Once I started subbing, the wheels fell off. That was pretty much the story of the game.”

The Wildcats were outscored 30-6 in the second quarter and 16-6 in the third quarter before a running clock limited both teams’ scoring in the final period.

“Our schedule is astronomically difficult for a Division VI school, playing a lot of Division II, III, IV and good V teams,” said Ritch. “Hopefully, we can make some noise in the tournament after playing this schedule. That was the plan.”

WINDHAM

Head coach Jimie Collins had only six healthy players and one other battling a cold for Windham’s Jan. 16 game at Northeastern Athletic Conference (NAC) foe Grand Valley.

“Only three of the seven players had varsity experience. The other four were freshmen,” Collins said of his team that lost 50-17 to the Mustangs to fall to 1-13 overall and 0-8 in the conference.

In spite of the defeat, two Bombers showing spunk are sophomores Kierrah Sanders, a point guard who scored eight points, and Makenna Jones, a shooting guard.

“Kierrah is improving daily and starting to fill her role as point guard/scorer,” said Collins. “She’s starting to handle the pressure a little bit better — both the defensive press by opponents and being our only quality ballhandler. She’s got a lot on her plate, but she’s starting to grow into her role on the team. Makenna is putting it all out there. She’s incorporated the scoring aspect for us for the most part all season. She’s starting to round into shape a little bit.”

According to the coach, his players are not hanging their heads in what has been a rough season.

“They’re all playing hard, getting a better understanding of the game of basketball,” he said. “As far as effort, I’m very pleased that they’re all working hard to get better.”