by ROCKY RIVER, OH – It was a cross town rivalry with the emotions and feels of a big game as Rocky River defended their turf with a thrilling 48-43 over Bay Village tonight. The Pirates needed a clutch press brake bucket from Ava Patti with time winding down and no timeouts remaining to seal the win.
I spoke with Pirate head coach Jamey Pfahl after the game about his confidence in his team at that moment, despite not having any time outs left and it still being a one possession game with 32 seconds remaining.
“In practice we do special situations and the girls were prepared for it so we had full confidence they would run the play well”, said Pfahl. He went on to explain the excitement and fun of playing against your rivals on a Friday night, “What a great atmosphere, I loved it, the gym was really rocking at the end! I was happy for the girls.”
The Pirates were led by senior Ava Patti who finished with 17 points. Stepping up big was the freshman Liz Lang who commanded the middle at times, finishing with 8 points and several big stops. Claudia Roche had 7 while Mackenzie Russell touched in 8. Olivia Dewey and Rori Vesy each had 2 while Nora Bruder finished with 3.
Bay Village continues to be fueled by their dynamic duo of Lucy Bisson with 13 and Grace Manoloff with 4. Quinn O’Leary had two big three pointers in the second half to finish with 6 points while Anna Weingart and Norah Trefz had 4 each. Sophia Sharpnack poured in 6 while Andy Naughton had 2 and Katie Mold 3.
Both teams came out aggressive, and it was 8-8 with 2:55 to go in the first as they both attacked the lane and the refs were letting them play physical. A Nora Bruder 3 broke the tie and sparked a quick 7-0 run for the Pirates. A Lucy Bisson three ball at the buzzer cut the Pirate lead to 15-11 after one.
Both teams started off ice cold to start the second quarter, as the only points of the first 5 minutes were a bucket from Bisson, and a foul shot from Patti. At one point, a Katie Mold three pointer tied it for Bay Village at 18-18. It wasn’t tied long as Claudia Roche immediately answered with a three of her own, as the game went to half 21-18 Rocky River.
The Rocky River Pirates went on a mini run in the third quarter as they extended the lead to 32-24 at one point. The quarter finished 38-33 as Bay Village kept it within single digits before an exciting fourth quarter.
The Pirates led 44-39 with 3:45 to go when Lauren Heldt called a timeout and regrouped Bay Village. They came out of the timeout and scored on a Bisson cutter in the lane that made it 44-41. Then, with 32 seconds left, as mentioned earlier, two Bisson foul shots made it 46-43 and the Pirates had to go through the full court press break with no timeouts left. They handled it with ease and put the game away on the Patti layup.
