Shannon Eldreth/Special to Portage Sports

By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

The Rootstown girls basketball team’s Division VI district final against Smithville last Saturday (Feb. 28) was the Rovers’ fourth game against the Smithies in the last two seasons.

They had beaten Smithville in all three games, including a regional championship game last season that punched their ticket to the state tournament in Dayton, where they lost in the state-title game.

In the most recent clash between the two teams, Rootstown dug itself a deep hole.

The top-seeded Rovers trailed 8-0 and were down 13-5 after one quarter in shooting 1-for-13 from the field.

They got on track in the second quarter and forged ahead 20-19 at the half. They were still up by one entering the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately for the Rovers, they wound up losing 43-38.

According to head coach Joe Leonard, there were reasons aplenty for the stinging defeat that left his squad with a final record of 20-4.

“We knew Smithville was good and that they play in a conference that’s really strong,” he said. “They’re seeded 12th or 13th, but we knew realistically they’re a three or a four seed, so we knew it was going to be a game.

“We didn’t shoot the ball as well as we could’ve,” Leonard added. “We shot 28 percent, they shot 46 percent. We turned them over 26 times — they’re a team that averaged only 13 turnovers a game — because our press was working. We only turned the ball over 15 times; for us, that’s pretty good.

“Smithville played good zone defense, we just didn’t shoot the ball well. We couldn’t buy a bucket. At some point, they just got it done and we did not.”

Leading the way for Rootstown was junior point guard Elliott Smallfield, who scored 18 points.

The Rovers began postseason play at home Feb. 19 by easily defeating Brooklyn 59-10 in a sectional final.

“It was a game that, in the beginning, we decided we were going to dress 15 girls,” said Leonard. “Brooklyn is a young team and hadn’t won a game all season. We actually started our second unit, and one of our goals was to get not only all 15 girls to play but to score, and we did that. All 15 girls got into the scoring column. We’re obviously at two different stages of development.”

Two players who had not seen much varsity action but did well were sophomore forward Ardynn Soika and freshman shooting guard Paisley Day, both of whom scored eight points.

Five nights later, on Feb. 24 also at home, Rootstown beat Brookfield 68-26 in a district semifinal.

“Brookfield has some shooters and they have some speed at the guard position,” the coach said, “but I just thought our press really gave them problems.

Leading the dozen players who scored were Smallfield (16 points), senior shooting guard Colbie Curall (13 points) and junior power forward Sophi Smith (10 points).

Reflecting on the season, Leonard was more than pleased with his team’s performance.

“We lost four senior starters from last season,” he said. “No one thought we’d be in the position to possibly get to regionals, but the girls worked hard and were aggressive.

“Our two very strong seniors, Colbie and guard/forward Cloe Bengston, go out as two of the winningest players in the program. We played nine girls virtually every game, and while losing Colbie and Cloe, we have seven girls coming back and some freshmen who are ready to step in next season.”