by Story by Matthias Andujar
The 19-4 Rocky River Pirates fended off the 11-10 Ursuline Fighting Irish. The Rocky River Pirates were led by Nora Bruder with 21 points off of five three point makes and had the help of Junior Elizabeth Lang as she had a dominant game on the glass followed with 13 points which all came from the second half.
Olivia Dewey and Maia Petrulis both had a double-digit effort as the Pirates move on to the next round. Ursuline put up a valiant effort as the Fighting Irish were led by Kennedy Carpenter’s 19 points followed by Freshman Maizy Green’s 11 points. Ursuline had 9 different players score at least two points compared to five from the Pirates.
The contest started with a Nora Bruder 3 which was a sign of what was to come from her in this game. The Ursuline Irish put up a valiant, team-oriented effort in the first quarter led by the combined efforts of Junior Kennedy Carpenter and Freshman Elaina Burnett with 4 points each. Ursuline’s defense kept up in the early goings of this game as they made Rocky River end the first quarter with 9 points compared to the Fighting Irish’s 14.
After that shaky first quarter, the Pirates sailed back into the game which was capped off by Norah Bruder’s 4th 3-pointer of the half which cut the deficit down to one at the end of the half, which ended the first half 27-26. Nora Bruder led the game in scoring with 14 points in the half followed by Ursuline’s Maizy Green with 6 points, which came exclusively from the 3-point line.
In the third quarter, Rocky River turned up the heat and displayed great team basketball of their own with an explosive 20-point third quarter while only holding the Fighting Irish to six points which meant the fourth quarter would start with a 46-33 lead favoring the Pirates.
The Irish would respond with a 20-point fourth quarter lead by Carpenter as she went on a solo run for 8 points by herself, including two and-one opportunities, though she’d miss those free throws. The Rocky River defense and methodical offense would prevail in the end with the final score being 57-53. The Pirates move on in division III tournament as they travel this Sunday to Triway High school to face the winner of Highland and Westlake.
