By Phil Keren

Correspondent

The Rootstown girls basketball team used relentless defensive pressure and an uptempo offense in a dominant 65-16 opening night victory over Garfield on Friday.

“The press is something that we work on,” said Rootstown head coach Joe Leonard. “Transition offense is also something we’re working on. It was all clicking.”

Playing without senior forward Nadia Lough, who is recovering from a torn ACL, the Rovers used a full-court press to create turnovers and fastbreak baskets en route to taking a 19-3 lead in the first quarter.

Garfield junior Mandy Cardinal made a layup at the start of the game to give her squad a 2-0 lead. The G-Men’s only lead of the contest was short-lived, however. About a minute later, Rootstown senior guard Kelsey Bittecuffer hit a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Rovers a n3-2 advantage.

After Garfield senior Kolby Fresch made 1-of-2 free throws to cut Rootstown’s lead to 7-3 with four-and-a-half minutes to go in the first period, the Rovers closed out the opening quarter on a 12-0 run. Sophomore guard Elliott Smallfield knocked down a pair of free throws, senior guard Addy Germann made a layup, Bittecuffer had a driving layup, junior forward Colbie Curall notched a reverse layup and senior guard Sasha Nichols made a transition layup following a steal by sophomore Mia Damicone.

“I thought we really kind of pressured them in the beginning of the game, kind of set the tempo,” Leonard said. “That’s the style and pace that we want to play because that’s what’s going to make us successful.”

The energy from the first quarter carried into the second quarter, with Rootstown scoring 16 points on layups (mostly from transition plays) and nine points on 3-point shots. After Garfield sophomore Charlee Hill made 1-of-2 foul shots to make the score 27-6, Rootstown scored 10 consecutive points on plays consisting of Germann filling the cup on a baseline drive and a trey, Nichols making a 3, and Smallfield recording a layup following a turnover.

Garfield junior Annie Rado halted the Rovers’ scoring blitz with a layup, but then Rootstown finished the second quarter on an 11-0 run. In this sequence, baskets came on a layup from Bittecuffer, two free throws from sophomore forward Sophi Smith, a traditional three-point play from junior guard Jamie Kopac, and lay-ins by Bittecuffer and Damicone. Rootstown went to the locker room at halftime with a 48-8 lead.

The second half was played with a running clock, per OHSAA rules.

Leonard said he installed the full-court press last season and noted his players enjoy playing a style that creates turnovers and plenty of fastbreak baskets.

“The girls like it,” Leonard said. “Our strength is not in our size. Our strength is our speed … we may be 5-2 or 5-3 but they get after it. We work on it daily. It’s something that definitely takes a lot of work. We film it, we show them areas that they can improve on. So far, it’s worked out pretty well.”

A total of 10 Rootstown players saw the court and all of them made it into the scoring column.

Bittecuffer led the way with 17 points, including two 3-pointers.

“I thought she was great” said Leonard. “She’s really feeling comfortable now. She shot the ball well, she handles the ball well, she always hustles, high basketball IQ. I’m happy for her to have a game like tonight, because she works really hard. It was good to see.”

Rootstown’s other double-figure scorer was Nichols with 12 points. Leonard said he thought the senior guard played with a lot of energy on both ends of the floor.

“She gets after it,” Leonard said. “She’s going to finish at the rim. She always is going to hustle, she creates havoc on the defensive end. She’s very good at taking a turnover from the other team and scoring the other direction. When Sasha’s being aggressive, that’s when she’s playing her best and it was nice to see her tonight really do well.”

Garfield’s top scorer was junior Riley Grace, who tallied six points.