by Heart, hustle, dedication and work ethic were staples of Elaine Robinsons reign as head coach of the Rocky River Lady Pirates. The success was found on the court as the wins piled up. She stepped away last Spring and only one game into her successor Jamey Pfahl’s first season as coach, one thing is crystal clear, those staples of a winning program are still there!
All of those traits that made Pfahl the perfect replacement as head coach shined through in the Pirates stunning 35-32 victory over highly ranked Hathaway Brown to tip off the 2022-2023 season. They came back from being down 24-8 using all the same skills and work ethics preached to them all offseason long and the proof was in the pudding.
They dug themselves a 24-8 hole because of 16 turnovers in the first half alone. Maybe it was rust, nerves or just bad luck. However, they began their comeback with time winding down in the first half to make things manageable at half.
It began off of a timeout when Natalie Swallow got very aggressive and wrangled the ball to force a jump ball in favor of the Pirates. Off the inbound the Lady Pirates got a shot off from the corner that fell flat, but Ava Patti was there to put it back up and cut into the lead at 24-10. Hathaway Brown would then miss the front end of the 1 and 1 following a foul which the Pirates turned into a shot at the buzzer by Patti to make it 24-12 at the break. Those 34 seconds of action turned the momentum in the favor of the Pirates, and changed the course of the rest of the game.
The Pirates came out firing to begin the second half with a bucket from Annika Mocho after she created a steal and instantly converted it into points. Sharp defense by Mackenzie Russell and the Pirates would continue to put the pressure on Brown and create turnovers. All of this led to a steal by Annika Mocho and easy layup to close the gap to 24-16 as River had put together an 8-0 run with 5:25 still to go in the third quarter.
The Pirates scored the next four points from the hands of Ava Patti as she sunk two from the line. Then it was Mocho getting another steal and fast break it to the hoop to score and cut the lead to 24-20.
The Blazers hit a foul shot to increase their lead to 25-20 and score their first points of the quarter after 5 plus minutes had already run off the clock. Kylie Crane used a beautiful spin move to the basket to make it 25-22 and get the River faithful on their feet with 90 seconds to go in the third.
The Blazers would get their first field goal of the quarter shortly after to make it 27 – 22 from Lucy Castelanos. The quarter ended by that same amount.
The Pirates fell behind 30-22 after an early three ball to start the fourth quarter for the Blazers, but this is when yet again, the Pirates were at their best with their backs against the wall. The Pirates shook off a couple of no calls as well and stay focused on the comeback attempt with a little over 6 minutes to play.
After a Kylie Crane foul shot made it 30-23, it was Mocho from the corner to cut it down to 5 points at 30-25. The Pirates continued the pressure and created a steal from Ava Patti who converted it into points and drew them even closer at 30-27.
After the Blazers pushed it to 32-27 with two foul shots, the Pirates went on one last run to give everyone a night to remember. It started with 4:35 to play. A Mackenzie Russell bucket made it 32-29 with a shot from the elbow with still a little over 4 minutes to play.
With the tension and the excitement rising by the second, it was Natalie Swallow draining one from long range to improbably tie the game at 32 with 2:09 to play.
From there, both teams had a chance to break the tie and couldn’t get it done until the closing seconds when Ava Patti took destiny in her hands and completed the improbable comeback with only 21 seconds left to play in the contest. She cut her way through the defense on her way to the hole to put the Pirates on top 34-32. It was their first lead of the game and came at the perfect time.
The Pirates hung on from there for the 35-32 win. Congrats to head coach Jamey Phafl for an amazing win by his Lady Pirates in the opener!
