By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

By the end of Wednesday night’s Division VI regional semifinal, the Rootstown and Canton Central Catholic girls basketball teams were riding two vastly different waves.

Rootstown senior Kelsey Bittecuffer goes up for a layup in the lane during Wednesday’s regional semifinal.
Shannon Eldreth/Special to Portage Sports

For the Crusaders, they simply were trying not to get swept into the undertow of the Rovers’ relentless defensive pressure, which is constant and difficult to escape.

For the Rovers, the euphoria of a historic season and tournament run.

A run that now continues for Rootstown following a 67-55 victory at Lake High School.

The win advances the Rovers to Saturday’s 7 p.m. regional championship game, which will again be played at Lake, against Smithville, which were 48-36 winners over Columbia on Wednesday.

The victory also improved Rootstown to a single-season best 25-1 record, and they did it in their signature style that featured constant and unforgiving on-ball pressure of double teams and traps, efficient offense and smart play, with only seven turnovers for the game.

It left head coach Joe Leonard proudly smiling.

“Our program has only been this far once before, so we are living in history right now and it’s fun,” said Leonard, referencing the 2008 regional appearance by the Rovers. “Tonight, I feel like our whole community was here to support us and it is a super exciting time, especially for our seniors, who have been amazing. They have had four very successful years and every year we have gotten farther and farther in the tournament.

“I am just really, really proud of how our girls played tonight.”

In the first half, it felt like the Rovers were on the verge of pulling away on multiple occasions, holding leads of six or seven points, but led only 29-25 at halftime.

Rovers sophomore Elliott Smallfield lifts for a layup in front of a pair of Crusaders defenders.
Shannon Eldreth/Special to Portage Sports

Canton Central Catholic (17-9) had a lot to do with that. Time and time again, the Crusaders found enough offense in key moments to stay within reach of the Rovers.

That changed in the third quarter.

Rootstown opened the second half by scoring the first 14 points to jump out to a 43-25 advantage by the 4:29 mark.

The scoring blitz was fueled by frenetic defense and capped off by a powerful drop-step layup in the post from Nadia Lough, a left-wing 3-pointer from Addy Germann and an impressive left-handed finish at the rim by Colbie Curall.

The Rovers operated with a double-digit lead the remainder of the game, with the Crusaders never getting closer than 11, which came with 1:08 left in the game on a 3-pointer from Sarah Belden.

The burst completely pushed the momentum to the Rovers, who were rewarded by staying focused on two important gameplan concepts.

“We wanted to keep doing what we do best, and we really felt that if we continued with our defensive pressure, that it would wear them down,” Leonard said. “That is a really good team, and they have some very good guards who can handle pressure, but we just believed that if we kept at it, they wouldn’t be able to keep the same pace we were. Also, we knew we had to make it a priority to get the ball to Nadia as much as we could. We knew that she gave us a huge advantage on the block.”

They were right.

As has been the case throughout her career, Lough was a gamechanger, using a series of low-post moves to strong finishes to take over the game.

Rootstown’s Addy Germann (2) and Colbie Curall close in defensively on Canton Central Catholic’s Sarah Belden.
Shannon Eldreth/Special to Portage Sports

The senior finished with 23 points, on 11-of-18 shooting, to go along with 11 rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots.

Lough was far from alone in the victorious effort, though.

Leonard and his staff regularly rotated seven players, moving two players in and two players out approximately every 2 minutes, to keep players fresh, and every player that hit the court made significant contributions.

Senior Kelsey Bittecuffer added 15 points (7-of-8 from the free-throw line) and four assists, as she smoothly kept the Rovers’ offense organized. Germann, another senior, had eight points and five steals.

Junior Cloe Bengston had eight points and six rebounds, sophomore Elliott Smallfield had five points and three steals and Sophi Smith had six points. Curall, a junior, finished with two points, below her double-digit scoring average, but still put her fingerprints on the game with her defense and rebounding.

All taking their turn in controlling the pace of the game through the Rovers’ defense.

“We talk a lot about wanting to make sure we work hard enough on defense that the opposing team never feels comfortable,” Leonard said. “We want them to feel that pressure, and we want them to feel that intensity so that it speeds them up. We ran with this a little bit last year, but we weren’t able to do it exactly the way we wanted to. Coming into this year, in the summer, we ran it against everyone we saw and had success with it. We knew we were on to something.”

Rovers junior guard Cole Bengston leaps toward the basket for a layup attempt.
Shannon Eldreth/Special to Portage Sports