Any chance for a Metro Athletic Conference victory is always a nice incentive for the Streetsboro Rockets boys’ basketball team, but whenever Portage County rival Ravenna is involved, the conference implications take a backseat to the Battle of Lake Rockwell. The Rockets played stout defense to prevail 64-28 against Ravenna last Friday evening at the James L. Coll Gymnasium.
“Any time you have these border rivals, the kids get up for them just a little bit more,” said Rockets’ Coach Nick Marcini. “Any time you are able to compete like this with someone so close by it is fun.”
As far the MAC rivalry is concerned, the Rockets (15-3, 10-1) have held the upper hand in recent years, sweeping the seasons series in four of the last five seasons since the schools joined the conference.
While the Rockets currently are dominating the long-standing Portage County rivalry, Marcini said the rivalry has risen to new heights since he attended Streetsboro and became the head coach.
“Back in the 1990s we did not play Ravenna that much because it was so much bigger than us,” he said. “The two communities have gotten similar in size now. It has been cool since I started coaching in 2004.”
With only three league games remaining, Streetsboro holds a one-game lead for outright ownership of the league title, which would be their first one since the 2021-22 season.
Senior guard Charles Ivory acknowledged that a league banner was a frequent topic in the Rockets’ locker room at this stage of the season.
“We think about it every day,” said the 6-foot-1 guard. “In practice every day, we are always grinding and want to win the league outright. We don’t want to share any league title so that is always on the forefront of our minds.”
Despite having dominated the MAC this season, Friday’s victory against the Ravens (4-15, 3-9) marked the first league victory for Streetsboro since Jan. 17. The Rockets suffered their first conference loss in a road game against Woodridge on Jan. 24, but by capturing another league victory against Ravenna, they have righted the ship by winning three consecutive games since their last defeat.
Although the Rockets are no longer undefeated in MAC play, the league banner is still theirs for the taking if they can sweep the final three league games.
Streetsboro raced out to a fast start in the first quarter, fueled by crisp ball movement that resulted in scoring three 3-point baskets, courtesy of Ivory and senior guards Jack Batten and Trevor Murray.
The Rockets’ seized a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter but hit an offensive lull in the second quarter.
According to the 21-year coach, the ball stopped moving which hampered the Rockets’ scoring.
Despite going through an offensive rut, Streetsboro’s defense remained strong, allowing Ravenna to only score five points in the second period.
“We have been hanging our hat on our defense all year,” Marcini noted. “The coaches have done such a good job at preparing these guys for every team and we expect it out of them. Any time you give up only 28 points in a game, you have played pretty good defense.”
Ivory helped revive Streetsboro’s offense by knocking down a pair of 3-pointers, keying an 8-0 run at the end of the quarter to push the Rockets’ lead to 34-14 at the half.
“I saw my team was down and saw it was getting to me too,” said Ivory, who scored 19 points, grabbed seven rebounds and recorded one assist. “I feel like my teammates feed off my facial features and expressions, so I felt I just had to go out there and get some energy and keep going so we get the flow going and start scoring again.”
Ravenna scored the first four points in the third quarter, trimming the Rockets’ lead to 34-18 but Streetsboro’s defense responded by forcing five Ravenna turnovers. They pushed the pace through their defensive prowess and were fueled by 9-4 spree to take a commanding 43-19 advantage halfway through the period.
“That starts with the defense,” Marcini noted. “Getting stops when we got out in transition and some easy buckets really turned the tide.”
Following a home game against MAC rival Norton on Wednesday evening, Streetsboro will host league rival Field on Friday night at 7 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Ravens will welcome MAC rival Akron Coventry to town on Friday night at 7 p.m.
