By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

Streetsboro wanted badly to make a third consecutive trip to the Division IV regional finals.

To even have a chance at that, the Rockets had to topple West Branch last Saturday (Feb. 28) in a district final played at Lordstown.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game. West Branch is a good program and always has a solid team. They’re well coached,” head coach Carl Singer said. “But we felt good, felt like we had a really good chance, having some experience in the district and regional games the previous two seasons. We also matched up well with them.”

A seven-point halftime lead for Streetsboro unfortunately disappeared en route to a 50-40 loss.

“We felt pretty good about how we were playing,” said Singer. “We felt that we just needed to come out in the second half and kind of repeat what we were doing, but we weren’t quite able to do that.”

The Rockets finished the season with a 17-8 record.

Pacing Streetsboro were three seniors — forwards Ava Bodovetz and Carlee Bedford and point guard Olivia Johnson-Wilson. Bodovetz scored 13 points (including three 3-pointers) and had two rebounds, three assists and two steals; Bedford scored 12 points and had eight rebounds, an assist, two steals and a block; and Johnson-Wilson hung up seven points, seven boards, two assists and two steals.

“Ava came out in the first half and got us off to a really good start. She had 11 points at halftime, so that was huge,” said the coach. “She was shooting the ball really well.

“Carlee was making plays throughout the game. Unfortunately, we had a lot of foul trouble, including her and Ava, and it kind of came around to bite us at the end.

“Olivia was able to get to the bucket. She was always good on the offensive glass getting rebounds. She had some opportunities, but she just couldn’t get some of the shots she should make to fall.”

Streetsboro opened the postseason at home Feb. 19 by triumphing 48-30 over Pepper Pike Orange in a sectional final.

“We led pretty much the whole way. I felt good about it the whole time,” Singer said. “Going in, we definitely felt like we were the better team. You want to come out in the first game of the tournament and make a statement. We were able to get everybody in off the bench. It was just a nice game to get us started and get everybody an opportunity to see some tournament action.”

Johnson-Wilson turned in a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds to go with three assists and seven steals. Bedford had eight rebounds.

“Olivia was our engine that made our team go all season, and I think she saw an opportunity to get us going in the tournament and come out and have a really good game,” said Singer. “Orange didn’t really have anybody who could match up with her very well, so she went out there and took advantage of it. She had a great game.”

Five nights later, on Feb. 24 also at home, Streetsboro defeated Cloverleaf 54-48 in a district semifinal.

“It started off really close in the first quarter,” the coach said. “It was nice to get a little lead going into halftime, so we felt pretty good at that point. But we knew that Cloverleaf was going to come out, keep playing hard and keep trying to get their win. It was a competitive game the whole way through. We had our runs, and they had their runs.”

Bedford scored 15 points and had seven rebounds, three steals and a block.

“Carlee was kind of our go-to all season, especially on the offensive end,” Singer said. “When we needed some buckets and we needed some points, we tried to get the ball in her hands. She definitely made some big plays against Cloverleaf, especially in the fourth quarter. We wanted the ball in her hands, and she went five of six from the free throw line in that fourth quarter to help seal things.”

Johnson-Wilson scored nine points to go with 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals; Bodovetz had eight points, 14 rebounds and a steal; and senior guard Claire Campbell tallied nine points (all on 3-pointers), five boards, an assist and two steals.

“We were on Ava all season about working on getting rebounds and helping us out on the boards. She certainly took that to heart and made sure that was one of the things she focused in on in this game, and I think it helped her in all areas,” said Singer. “Claire was a shooter for us all season. She led us in 3-pointers made and attempted, and we needed every bit of them in that game. For her to step up and hit some shots was huge for us.”

According to the coach, losing five seniors to graduation will be tough, especially

Johnson-Wilson and Bedford being four-year varsity starters.

“We were able to get our juniors a lot of varsity playing time this season, though,” he said. “They were a big part of what we did. Several of our freshmen stepped up as well. I think next season we’re going to have a lot of athleticism, a lot of speed. We’re definitely losing some size, but we have girls who are going to play hard, and they’ll be able to get up and down the court pretty well.”