The Streetsboro Rockets girls’ basketball team closed out their home schedule in grand fashion, winning 62-21 against Metro Athletic Conference and Portage County rival Ravenna in the Battle of Lake Rockwell to celebrate senior day last Saturday afternoon in Streetsboro.
“That was one of the things we talked to them about,” said Coach Carl Singer. “This could be the last home game for the seniors, it could be our last home game of the season, so we definitely wanted to come out and be ready to go.”
Since the schools became members of the Metro Athletic Conference in 2020, the Rockets (12-5, 9-1) have not lost a contest against their neighborhood rivals, having swept the season series against Ravenna (4-14, 2-10) for the sixth consecutive year.
According to the 11-year coach, the Rockets have not taken this rivalry for granted, as in addition to being conference rivals, Ravenna is also a neighborhood rivalry. But it has become a question mark just how strong this rivalry will last as following the conclusion of the 2026-27 season, the Ravens will leave the MAC and join the Greater Portage Athletic Conference, which will consist of seven Portage County schools and Akron Springfield.
“It is always fun to battle with them,” he added. “With Ravenna being 10 minutes down the road, we know they want to come in and compete and we better show up. “With the conference changes that happens all of the time and can throw off the scheduling, but we will see.”
On Saturday, the Rockets struck quickly to build an 8-0 lead, but Ravenna responded with a 5-0 run, cutting the lead to three points. After Streetsboro stretched its advantage to 17-7, the Ravens countered with a 4-0 surge before the end of the period, trailing only by six points.
Although the Rockets’ pressure defense had given Ravenna trouble, the Ravens were still in striking distance.
Ultimately, the Rockets pulled away from Ravenna in the second quarter by igniting their offense through their defense, as they did a better job at capitalizing off of Ravenna’s turnovers, holding a 35-15 edge at the half thanks to some opportunistic scoring in transition.
The Rockets’ press defense continued yielding immediate success, as senior guard Olivia Johnson-Wilson continued fueling the fast break by scoring eight points in the third quarter, enabling Streetsboro to stay firmly in control and take a 47-21 lead into the fourth quarter. The 5-foot-5 senior finished with 14 points, five rebounds and two assists.
Streetsboro finished the game in style, shutting out Ravenna in the final period and triggering the running clock in the process once the lead grew to 56-21.
“We always say it starts with our defense and it starts on the defensive end,” Singer noted. “Olivia Johnson-Wilson is that lightning rod a lot of times for us, so it was definitely not a surprise that she got us going with that.”
In addition to continuing to be a defensively aggressive team, Singer lauded the Streetsboro’s depth for once again propelling them to being one of the top teams in the MAC, despite the graduation of three seniors from last year’s MAC championship team, including standout center Naomi Benson, who is now continuing her basketball career at the University of Illinois.
According to Singer, the Rockets trotted out a six-player rotation last year for most of the season but in the wake of graduating one of the best players to ever play for the girls’ basketball program, they have expanded their rotation, including several newcomers to the fold particularly two freshmen in guard McKenzie Montgomery and MaRyah McIntosh, which has allowed the Rockets to develop a 10-player rotation this year.
“We have nine or 10 kids that we feel comfortable putting out on the floor,” he said. “They got a lot of minutes. Obviously, we want to give our seniors the opportunity to have their great night, but I felt like the underclassmen came in and brought us big energy and got us going especially at the beginning.”
Although the Rockets entered the year with a big void in the line-up in the wake of Benson’s graduation, Streetsboro has remained a competitive force and sits in second place in the MAC, with a chance to tie for first place or even capture outright possession if it can go undefeated in its final three league games.
“With a lot of new players, we are getting experience in those games and learning things, so it is a matter of us peaking at the right time,” Singer said.
After a road duel against league leader Norton on Monday and another road game against MAC foe Cloverleaf on Wednesday, Streetsboro will stay on the road and face Akron Coventry on Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
Meanwhile, following a home duel against MAC rival Field on Wednesday, the Ravens will go on the road and face Portage County foe Mogadore on Saturday at noon.
