The Streetsboro Rockets girls’ basketball team has seen its fair share of wire-to-wire games so far this season and has usually prevailed. It was not the case when the Rockets fell to non-conference foe Chippewa 47-45 last Saturday afternoon at Streetsboro High School.
“It was a frustrating one,” said Coach Carl Singer. “We knew they were a good team but those are the games we are looking forward to and not to get that one is pretty disappointing. It was pretty back and forth in the first half and the fourth quarter. We jumped on them pretty good and had a good third quarter and then the fourth quarter they came back at us and that came down to the last shots.”
The Rockets (8-2, 6-0) trailed 45-43 in the final minute of play but evened the score at 45-45 when junior guard/forward Carlee Bedford scored on a set play when they inbounded the ball from underneath the basket. The 6-foot junior was fouled on the shot and awarded an additional free throw, but she missed the shot. Senior center Naomi Benson collected the rebound and was fouled in the process but missed both free throws.
Chippewa scored on the ensuing possession when senior guard Elena Moyer scored on a drive to the basket, pushing the Chipps ahead 47-45. Despite having several shot attempts, Streetsboro could not bury the equalizer and was handed only their second loss of the season.
“When it comes down to those situations and we have an opportunity to close the game out at the free throw line or have an opportunity to make a game-winning shot, that is always what you remember,” noted the 10-year coach. “We definitely talked about it at the end, those were not plays that lost us the game, it was the plays that led up to that.”
Despite holding s 36-28 advantage at the end of the third period, the Rockets were outscored by a 19-8 margin in the fourth quarter. According to Singer, Streetsboro was once again plagued with the same defensive issues that have surfaced this season.
He added that the Rockets also were sloppy with their ball control, resulting in costly turnovers which were further compounded with a lack of offensive production.
Singer said that some of the Rockets’ biggest issues on defense have been not closing out on open shooters, failing to box out while rebounding and poor communication across the defensive end.
He also noted that the Rockets showed glimpses of defensive resurgence in their game against Metro Athletic Conference rival Field on Jan. 3 and did so again in the third quarter, when they unleashed a 16-3 wave against Chippewa to take a healthy lead into the final period.
In addition to limiting the Chipps to only one field goal in the third period, the 6-foot-3 Benson fueled a Streetsboro offensive tidal wave by scoring eight points in the period.
“She knows the expectation for her and she knows what she has do out there for us to be successful,” Singer said of the University of Illinois commit who tallied 17 points. “For whatever reason at times throughout the game we all looked a little lethargic and just a little tired, but they came alive in the third quarter and looked like they realized when they needed to do to get the win.”
The Chipps roared back in the fourth period sparked by their outside shooting. After knocking down four 3-point shots in the opening quarter, Chippewa’s perimeter shooting came to life again in the final period and buried three shots from beyond the arc to seize control.
In the Rockets’ only two losses of the season, Singer acknowledged that they have been undone by superior outside shooting from the opposition.
While Streetsboro has funneled its offense in the paint throughout the season, Singer noted that trying to find more offense from the perimeter is something the team needs to make a habit of doing for the second half of the season.
“We know that is not the shot that we want to get because we typically have a size advantage against a lot of teams so our strength is getting to the basket and trying to finish around the basket. But we know we will have to hit some shots at some point down the line,” he added. “I think on the other end of it we just have to do a better job defensively of knowing the scouting report and knowing the kids that can shoot it and make sure we can take that away.”
Streetsboro will return to action when it hits the road to take on MAC rival Cloverleaf in Lodi on Friday night beginning at 7 p.m.
