The Metro Athletic Conference banner may have eluded the Streetsboro Rockets boys’ basketball team this year, but they proved that they will be a contender for the foreseeable future. The Rockets capped off league play and celebrated senior night by storming back in the second half to beat conference rival Akron Coventry 67-43 last Friday evening at Streetsboro High School.
“It was good,” said Coach Nick Mancini. “At this time of year, you would love to be playing your best basketball and we are definitely playing our best basketball of the season.”
Since joining the MAC in the 2020-21 campaign, Streetsboro (13-8, 10-4) has held the upper hand on the Comets, winning the first five of seven games but losing the last two, including a 56-41 defeat on Jan. 12.
Last Friday, things appeared to trending in a similar direction when the Rockets trailed 20-14 in the second quarter. Despite holding the Comets scoreless for the first 3:08 of the period, Streetsboro could not score, and the team was becoming frustrated about their foul situation after being issued four fouls.
“We always know referees are never going to help us out,” said junior guard Jack Batten. “We just have to play through it and once we realized we were the only ones who could win the game, everything turned on from there.”
The Rockets’ defense dominated the rest of the quarter, outscoring Coventry by a 9-4 margin, trimming the lead to 22-21 entering the half. Streetsboro’s momentum faded at the beginning of the third quarter when the Comets went on a 6-0 run, fueled by a pair of 3-pointers by junior guard Justus Stephens and freshman guard Alex Meinen, increasing their lead to 28-21.
The Rockets started knocking down outside shots and went on a 15-0 run to take a 36-28 advantage by making three 3-pointers, including a go-ahead triple by the 6-foot Batten with 1:48 remaining the period.
That 3-point shot marked Batten’s 118th of his varsity career, setting a new school record for the most 3-pointers made by a male Streetsboro basketball player.
“It’s amazing,” said Batten. “I have always taken pride in my shooting and having my own school record, especially after my junior season, is just great and feels amazing.”
Streetsboro’s offense continued humming and built a 40-31 advantage at the end of the quarter. Despite only forcing three Comets’ turnovers in the third period, Streetsboro did not allow them to make another field goal in the period after their first two 3-pointers, holding them to just nine points.
In addition to some good perimeter shooting, junior guard Charles Ivory relentlessly attacked the paint, scoring 11 points in the third quarter to spark the Rockets’ comeback.
“I saw us getting off to a slow start,” noted the 6-foot junior guard. “We could not score and I knew I needed to do something to get all of our fires lit under us and get us going.”
After setting the school record in the third quarter, Batten could not miss from the outside and shot three-of-three from long distance, scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter and sparking a 13-3 run, pushing the Rockets to a 53-34 lead.
He acknowledged that once he broke the school record, he felt the weight of the world lift off his shoulders. He finished the game with 20 points and two assists on six-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc.
“Everything that I shot was going in,” Batten added. “There was so much pressure off my shoulders when that record was broken.”
After surrendering 18 points in the first period, the Rockets only allowed 25 points in the final three periods to mount a thrilling comeback and avenge their earlier defeat from their MAC rivals, winning their fifth straight game to finish as the runners-up in the conference.
According to the 20th-year coach, after his squad was defeated by the Comets in the first contest, that is when everything changed.
“These guys could have easily put any chance to win the league title away,” he noted. “We went down to Norton in the next game, and we did not win but played really well and ever since then they have been on a mission to just keep getting better and take every game as it comes.”
Streetsboro’s late season surge may not have been enough to win the MAC title this year but after becoming a more dynamic offense at the end of the season, the returning Rockets have their eyes set on taking the MAC banner from Norton next season.
“This is huge,” Ivory said. “We pretty much have everyone coming back. We are still a relatively young team so we will come back and for this year’s playoffs, we are pretty dangerous because we do not give up.”
Following their regular season finale against Poland Seminary on Tuesday night, Streetsboro will return to the court and host Cleveland Central Catholic in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II Northeast 1 sectional semifinal at Streetsboro High School on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.
