by It was a scrappy, physical game tonight between the Bay Rockets and North Olmsted Eagles. This Great Lakes Conference matchup was filled with great defense and hard-nosed play from both sides. The Rockets led all night long and were able to fight off a late comeback attempt from the Eagles to hang on to a 43-37 victory.
Lucy Bisson was on fire to start the game for the Rockets, scoring 8 of their first 10 points as Bay stormed out to a 10-3 lead. Bisson finished the first quarter with 14 points with 2 three pointers made. The Rockets scored 24 points in the first quarter and held a 24-9 lead over the Eagles. That offensive firepower would not continue the rest of the game however. The second quarter was all defense. There were only 2 field goals made in the first 6 minutes of the quarter, both layups by North Olmsted’s Mia Donald.
At one point there was over 4 minutes without a single point scored from both teams. Bay did not score their first points of the quarter until there were about 2 minutes left in period on a jumper by Ruthie Bisson. Maddie Bigler hit a shot just before the end of half to put the Rockets up 28-15 going into the break. Lucy Bisson got into some foul trouble after her hot start, picking up 3 in the first half leading her to have spend some time on the bench.
The 3rd quarter began with some instant offense as both teams traded baskets in the beginning minutes. Ruthie Bisson began to step up for the Bay offense, scoring 8 points in the quarter. At one point the Eagles cut the lead to single digits, but that progress was quickly erased after back to back Rockets scores.
Ryann Marcis had a put-back at the buzzer to end the 3rd, putting the Rockets back up 13 going into the 4th. In the 4th quarter the Eagles made a valiant comeback attempt, scoring 8 straight to cut the lead to just 5 points with just over four minutes left in the game. Elena Cardenas and Sarah Pullin were key in getting North Olmsted back in the game, as they made some tough shots and big free throws. After the Eagles cut it to 5 at 42-37 the offense for both teams went silent and the defensive intensity really started to pick up.
The final 4 minutes were filled with a lot turnovers and missed foul shots. The score remained 42-37 until there were only 13.9 seconds on the clock, when Ruthie Bisson hit a free throw to put the Rockets up by 6. That was followed by an Eagles miss and the Rockets then dribbled out the clock to seal the 43-37 win. Lucy Bisson led all scorers with 16, while Ruthie Bisson finished with 13. Lucy dominated the first half with 14, while Ruthie led the team with 9 in the second half.
It was a tough, physical game all night long and Rockets head coach Lauren Heldt said they were prepared for just that, “We knew it would be a physical game going into it, North Olmsted always plays hard, so we prepared for it, and we came out and they weren’t taking anything for granted. I think I’ve seen us grow, the beginning of the season I wouldn’t say we were thriving under pressure, but now the last 5 or 6 games we’ve handled that pressure very well.”
