By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

A 31-4 advantage after one quarter.

The lead expanding each period.

A running clock in the second half.

Eleven players in the scoring column.

It was a great day for Mogadore Feb. 7 as the host Wildcats cruised to a 64-24 victory over Ravenna to improve to 8-13.

“Ravenna’s best guard was out with a sprained ankle, so that didn’t help them,” head coach Jen Ritch said. “And their best forward got in foul trouble real quick.”

Leading the way for Mogadore were junior point guard Kasey Bolyard and sophomore forward/guard Jessica Holler. Bolyard scored 19 points and had two rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Holler hung up her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds and added four assists and four steals.

“Kasey did that in less than 20 minutes, so that’s about a point a minute. She’s pretty effective,” said Ritch. “Jess had a great game. A double-double is impressive anytime you do it, but hers was even more impressive since there weren’t a ton of offensive rebounds to get because we shot 54 percent from the floor. If you get 10 rebounds, you’re working your butt off.”

Scoring eight points apiece were sophomore forward/guard Natalya Bartholomew and senior guard Rylee Clark. Bartholomew also had four rebounds, an assist and five steals, while Clark added a rebound, two assists and four steals.

STREETSBORO

Everything was working early on for the Streetsboro girls basketball team Feb. 9 at Metro Athletic Conference rival Field.

“We came out ready to be aggressive on defense. We picked them up full court a little bit and were able to create some steals and make some plays,” head coach Carl Singer said. “ On the other side of it, we were hitting our shots at the start.”

The result?

A 56-31 triumph for the Rockets, who ended the regular season with a 15-7 record and finished 12-2 and runner-up in the MAC, a game behind Norton.

Pacing Streetsboro were forwards Carlee Bedford, a senior, and Sara Koyan, a junior.

Bedford scored 20 points and had seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks, while Koyan had nine points, four rebounds and a steal.

“Carlee got off to a really hot start, really got us going,” said Singer. “Sara had a really nice game for us. We gave her a tough assignment, putting her on Field’s leading scorer. We told her to go out there and do the best she could to try to shut her down, and I think she did a really nice job of that. The player she was guarding only had about seven points at halftime. Sara also did a nice job on the boards, made some nice plays on offensive rebounds. She had a really good all-around game.”

ROOTSTOWN

Rootstown’s game Feb. 7 at Perry was back and forth from start to finish.

The Rovers trailed 16-13 after one quarter, led 27-26 at the half and upped their lead to 42-38 entering the fourth period.

That advantage expanded to eight points, but the Pirates began pressing on defense, causing a few turnovers by the visitors.

“That changed the momentum,” head coach Joe Leonard said.

Rootstown still had its opportunities, though.

With a minute to go and the score tied, a missed layup by the Rovers turned into a foul at the other end of the floor, resulting in free throws for the home team.

Down 56-52, Rootstown hit a 3-pointer with 1.6 second left, but never got the ball back in a heartbreaking 56-55 defeat.

The Rovers are now 17-3.

They clinched their fifth straight league championship Jan. 28 in a win over Kirtland.

“Perry is a Division IV team that’s very good,” said Leonard. “We thought we should’ve won, but you have to play four complete quarters. It seemed like every time we made a mistake, they capitalized, and we just can’t do that against really good teams.”

Junior point guard Elliott Smallfield led the way for the visitors with a career-high 27 points (including three 3-pointers) and a whopping eight steals.

Classmate Bailey Kidd, another guard, scored nine points to go with four rebounds, three assists and a steal.

“Elliott played well offensively and defensively,” the coach said. “On the defensive end, she was all over the place just trapping and creating so many issues for Perry. Offensively, she did a great job driving to the basket, finishing at the rim and just being really aggressive, taking advantage of her speed because she’s so quick and athletic. Bailey did a really nice job coming in off the bench being aggressive, driving and looking to pass out. She also had a big 3-pointer.”

FIELD

It was Senior Night for Field Feb. 9 at home against Metro Athletic Conference rival Streetsboro.

“When emotions are involved, they can sometimes impact the way that you play,” head coach John Misenko said of the Falcons’ 56-31 defeat that dropped them to 11-10 overall and 6-7 in the MAC.

“Streetsboro jumped on us early,” said Misenko, “and we’re not built to come back when we’re down a lot. We were playing catchup the whole game. Carlee Bedford came out on fire for them. I think she had four 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 20 points. She played really well and kind of set the table for them. Streetsboro is good. They killed us on the boards, so that didn’t help.”

Two players who, according to Misenko, did fairly well despite the defeat were senior

guard/forward Morgan Stoicoiu (two 3-pointers) and sophomore guard Audrey Richmond.

RAVENNA

Ravenna would have been a decided underdog Feb. 7 at Mogadore even had two players not been sidelined with injuries. But with two players out, the Ravens were playing from a difficult spot from the start.

The visitors dug themselves a 27-point deficit after the first quarter. It was uphill from there in a 64-24 defeat. Ravenna finished the regular season with a 5-17 record.

With or without his two wounded players, head coach DaVante McKinney had nothing but praise for the Wildcats.

“Mogadore is a well-coached and a well-disciplined team. They were ready to play,” he said, adding that his underclassmen showed spunk despite the lopsided loss. “They brought fight and energy and effort that I’d like to see going forward in the years to come. So hats off to them because they got in the game and played the majority of it. They didn’t quit.”

WATERLOO

Visiting Waterloo stood toe to toe with Orrville Kingsway Christian on Feb. 2, but only in the second and third quarters in which each team scored 22 composite points.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, they were outscored 26-5 compositely in the first and fourth periods that added up to a 48-27 loss. They wound up the regular season with a 1-20 record.

“We just didn’t come to play all four quarters,” head coach Nicole Lewis said.

Pacing Waterloo was sophomore guard Johanna King, who scored 15 points and had two assists and three steals after a season-best 16-point outing in the previous game against Windham. Her classmate, guard Alexis Henry, totaled seven points, two assists and five steals after hanging up a season-high 22 points against the Bombers.

“Johanna,” said Lewis, “has actually come through the last two games offensively. She’s really coming on towards the end of the season. She’s very young, but for the most part she’s going to be one to watch in the near future.”