The third time was not the charm for the Streetsboro Rockets girls’ basketball team as their bid for a third consecutive Ohio High School Athletic Association district title fell short in a 50-40 loss against West Branch in the OHSAA Division IV Northeast 2 district championship last Saturday at Lordstown High School.
“Both teams were really physical,” said Coach Carl Singer. “We are always a physical team and I felt like we battled. It seemed like calls were not necessarily going our ways at times, but we played hard and that is all I can really ask of the girls.”
It marked the third straight season that the Rockets (17-8, 12-2) appeared in a district championship but the team’s attempt to extend their district title run to a third year ended against a stout defensive team in the Warriors.
It was a tale of two halves on Saturday, as Streetsboro got off to a quick start by taking a 24-17 lead at the half as they dictated the pace and shot well from beyond the arc, knocking down four 3-point baskets to only one by the Warriors .
West Branch swung the tide in their favor at the beginning of the third period, staging a 9-0 run to erase Streetsboro’s lead and go ahead 26-24
Senior guard/forward Carlee Bedford acknowledged that West Branch’s big run at the beginning of the quarter changed things significantly for the Rockets.
“The fouls picked up a little bit and the energy shifted, and I feel like it was our downfall,” noted the 6-foot senior, who was the co-leader in points scored with senior guard/forward Ava Bodovetz, scoring 13 points and grabbing nine rebounds.
The Rockets’ outside shooting was not as sharp in the second half and the Warriors defense stiffened, sealing off the paint and challenging Streetsboro to beat them from beyond the arc.
According to Bedford, although it was a greater challenge to attack the paint in the second half, Streetsboro struggled to execute its halfcourt offense.
“I think the passes were there, but I think we were waiting a little too long to throw it inside,” she added. “It was not hard to get the ball in. It was harder to get it around the perimeter and then get it inside, so we needed to be a little more patient.”
As West Branch assumed control, it also controlled the pace, which threw the Rockets out of their comfort zone as their transition opportunities were limited and they needed to rely more on a halfcourt style to prevail.
The 10-year coach said that the Rockets had the halfcourt sets in their arsenal they could run during the game but did not execute those plays at a consistent level.
Freshman forward Madi Hoopes paced the Warriors to a strong third period, outscoring the Rockets by a 17-9 margin while scoring eight points herself to lead West Branch to a 36-31 lead at the end of the period.
The game’s physical nature resulted in the several Rocket players falling into foul trouble entering the fourth period and it proved costly, as Bedford, Bodovetz and senior guard Olivia Johnson-Wilson all fouled out in the final period.
Bedford said that once Streetsboro players began fouling out of the game, the Warriors seized a firm grip on the contest and used a 10-5 run to build a double-digit lead in the final minutes.
Although the Rockets’ season ended in the district title game, Singer said that it was another successful season for a Rockets’ team that persevered to finish second in the Metro Athletic Conference and claim another district title berth for the third consecutive season.
After graduating standout Naomi Benson from last year’s squad, Bedford said Streetsboro had plenty to prove in the 2025-26 season as although Benson fueled the team to new heights, there was still plenty of talent that could take the reins and maintain the standards of success.
“Our goal was to prove to everybody that we were more than Naomi Benson and she will tell you that herself,” she said. “When Naomi left, she said that I want you to prove that you are more than just me. We are a whole team, and we are stacked and built and getting back here just took hard work and effort altogether as a team.”
Although the Rockets are graduating another strong senior class in Bedford, Bodovetz, Johnson-Wilson and guard Claire Campbell, Bedford said that she is confident that the winning habits built over the last three years will trickle down to the next wave of players to push the Rockets to several deeper postseason runs.
