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NORTH OLMSTED, OH – Ryan Miller stepped up in all the pivotal moments as the visiting Bay Rockets defeated the North Olmsted Eagles 54-44. Miller scored 24 on the night but had a big first quarter after teammate Emmitt Naughton picked up two quick fouls and then a huge fourth quarter scoring 8 straight points to help the Rockets pull away in what was a close game at that point. Miller was there in the biggest moments when the Rockets needed him the most.
The Rockets saw 11 from Brody Beggs while Kelan Rose scored 8 and Ethan George finished with 7. Naughton also scored 7 as the Rockets 5 starters were the only ones to see the scoresheet tonight.
The Eagles were led by Anthony D’Alessandro with 14 while Jake Perkins scored 10 and Chuck Shuck tallied 6. Desean Knight got the start and scored 4 while Dominic Martin and Brett Zatta scored 3 each. Rounding out the scoring for the Eagles was Cory Kraft and AJ Ryant with 2 each.
The Rockets hit on back-to-back three’s from Ethan George to lead 6-2 early. Naughton nailed one shortly after, and just like that the Rockets were on top 9-2. Beggs followed with a bucket and the Rockets were suddenly up 11-2 within minutes following tipoff. A D’Alessandro foul shot stopped the 11-0 run before 4 more from the Rockets brought it to 15-3. A Perkins three ball sliced it to 17-6 as the first quarter wrapped up.
A 4-0 run by the Eagles was stopped by a Miller three ball. Once again it was Miller when the Rockets needed something. A bit later, down 22-11, the Eagles began their comeback when Shuck and D’Alessandro hit back-to-back three balls to slice the gap to 22-17. Out of a timeout it was two more buckets from D’Alessandro as it was suddenly a 1-point game at 22-21. From there, a Knight basket handed the Eagles the lead at 23-22 as the Nest went crazy. The Rockets calmed down to battle back and take a 25-23 lead into the break.
The Eagles simply couldn’t buy a shot as the Rockets slowly built the lead back out to 34-25 with 1:35 to play in the third quarter, as the Eagles only scored two points in the first six plus minutes of the half. The Rockets took a 36-29 lead into the fourth.
After the Eagles cut the Rocket lead to 40-33, Ryan Miller once again stepped up with 8 straight points to help the Rockets pull away for good at 48-33. The Eagles showed a lot of fight tonight and looked vastly improved despite the 54-44 final score in favor of the Rockets.
