By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

The Streetsboro Rockets girls basketball team’s road victory at Field on Friday was shared in multiple directions.

Rockets senior Naomi Benson scores a layup as she is fouled during Friday’s second quarter. This created the and-one that led to the free throw that Benson hit to become the school’s career scoring leader.
Paisley Nader/Portage Sports

Individually, it was a historical night for senior Naomi Benson, who became the program’s career scoring leader.

As a team, the Rockets improved their strong hold as the front-runner to win their second straight Metro Athletic Conference championship.

Defensively, where head coach Carl Singer has felt his team has fallen short of expectations this season, began to show glimpses of what the staff believes they can become.

All wrapped up together, it led the Rockets to a 52-40 victory over the Falcons in a game that both teams entered undefeated in league play.

Benson’s career scoring milestone came at the 4:24 mark of the second quarter. She made a layup as she was fouled, then completed the and-one with the free throw. The sequence elevated her to the greatest scorer in Rockets history. In total, Benson, who has committed to the University of Illinois, finished with 19 points to lift her career total to 1,361 points.

The previous record-holder was shooting guard Rachel Bolyard (2015-19), who had 1,348 points.

“Obviously, Naomi is a special player, but what makes her the way that she is, is that she never settles,” Singer said. “At this point in her career, she knows that she can have a good game, but she pushes herself to be great in games.

“Outside of being a special player, she is just such a good kid,” Singer said. “It makes it really easy for me to say good things about her and her game. She has set a great example for our program.”

Naomi Benson releases the free throw that set the career scoring record.
Paisley Nader/Portage Sports

Benson was the high-scorer on the night, but it was actually without her that the Rockets got themselves going.

Field won the first few minutes of play, holding a 9-6 lead, when Benson was forced to the bench after picking up her second foul with 4:29 remaining in the first quarter.

The Rockets’ Ava Bodovetz releases a left-handed layup against Field’s Abby Harlin.
Paisley Nader/Portage Sports

What appeared to set up an advantage to an already leading Falcons team turned out to be a spark for the Rockets (8-1, 6-0 MAC).

Streetsboro took the lead at 3:07, 10-9, on a 3 by Carlee Bedford at the top of the arc, which was quickly followed up by a pair of transition scores — led by the defensive presence of Olivia Johnson-Wilson — to extend the lead to 14-9 before the quarter ended with the Rockets holding a 16-11 advantage. That five-point deficit was the closest the Falcons (5-5, 5-1 MAC) would get the rest of the way. The next-closest deficit, 25-19, came on a second-quarter 3-pointer by Mckayla Miller.

The Rockets were quick and pronounced with their answer, scoring the next 13 unanswered points in an avalanche that made the score 38-19 and that the Falcons did not end until senior Delilah Rahe hit her first field goal of the game at 1:49 that led to the eventual halftime score of 38-21.

The double-digit lead was created through on-ball pressure that changed the pace of the game and also turned defense into easy offense for the Rockets.

In short, the effort that Singer and his coaching staff has been waiting to see return to their team.

“We have always been a team that puts a precedence on defense, but we have not felt that our defense has been where we thought it would be at this point in the season,” Singer said. “Tonight, was closer to what we expect and better than we have shown recently. Now the challenge is bringing that consistency and excitement to play defense to every game.”

In the game-changing second quarter, the Rockets forced the Falcons into 11 turnovers and 17 for the first half. Field cleaned up its turnovers in the second half, but the problems then shifted to shooting 3-of-24 in the second half.

Ally Harlin scoops up a reverse layup in front of Streetsboro defenders Carlee Bedford (24) and Ava Bodovetz.
Paisley Nader/Portage Sports

“(Streetsboro) pressures the ball so hard, and I don’t think we did a good enough job of handling that pressure, especially the on-ball pressure,” Field head coach John Misenko said. “I also don’t think we executed very well,” Misenko added. “We didn’t necessarily get to the proper spots we wanted to be in or run what we were supposed to, but that had to do with the defensive pressure. We had a difficult time getting into what we wanted because of the ball pressure.”

Streetsboro was held to 7-of-25 shooting in what became a bit of a disjointed second half, but did continue to benefit from ball movement that created 20 assists on 24 made field goals. Johnson-Wilson and Sydney Abbuhl had five assists each, while Raegan Hendon had four.

Benson was the only Rockets player in double figures, but balance came from Bedford (9 points), Hendon (8) and Abbuhl (8).

Abby Harlin was Field’s leading scorer, with all nine of her points coming from the free-throw line, where the Falcons were 16-of-20 for nearly half their points. Ally Harlin and Rahe (8 rebounds) also finished with eight points each.

Streetsboro guard Sydney Abbuhl drives down the lane against Field defender Ally Harlin.
Paisley Nader/Portage Sports