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Rocky River had three players score in the double digits on their way to a commanding 57-8 victory tonight in the North Olmsted. Ava Patti had 11 while both Natalie Swalloe and Kelsey Murphy had 10 each.
Those three were not alone in the scoring for the Pirates as 9 total players made the score sheet. Taylor Spies had 2, Sophia Murray had 6 including 4 from the foul line. Maeve Kelly had 3 as did Mackenzie Russell. Annike Mocho poured in 8 more while Sophia Sindelar had 4.
The handle on Murray was incredible tonight as she has a great first step with the dribble drive. Perhaps most impressive from the Pirates was the fact they put up 57 points and only drained two buckets from long range. They used a commanding press defense to build a large early lead, and never looked back.
Pirate head coach Elaine Robinson was pleased at how her team came out and set the pace, “It goes to show how our defense can drive our offense by forcing turnovers and getting transition points. It is a big part of who we are”, said Robinson
Coach Robinson went on to say how her team was able to keep focus all game despite playing with such a big lead for most of it, “We had 9 girls score tonight which is always a great thing. It was nice to show that we didn’t give in at halftime and kept moving forward which is always a great thing. We tell them we look at the second half like it is 0 to 0 to stay disciplined. We get to refocus on defense and execute.”
The Pirates jumped out to a 9-0 start in the games first 3 minutes by using that incredible press. An Elena Cardenas basket followed by a Jordan Taylor 3 ball suddenly cut the lead to 9-5 and put the Eagles in the game. It wouldn’t last long however as the Pirates began to get red hot and finished the quarter on a 12-0 run to lead 21-5 after one quarter of action.
The Rocky River Pirates would put things away for good with an incredible second quarter as they outscored the Eagles 19-2, including a 13-0 run to end the quarter. 7 different Pirates scored in the quarter and it was Kelsey Murphy leading them with 6 during that stretch. Perhaps best of all was a last second three from Mackenzie Russell that rattled in. The quarter made it 40-7 at half.
Because of the large lead, OHSAA rules state a running clock must take place, and that made the final two quarters move quickly. Despite the rapid clock, the Pirates managed to put up 17 more before it was over to win 57-8.
A few takeaways from this one. Firstly, the press defense of River will make them a tough team to beat in the GLC this year. Secondly, they pass the ball really well and routinely find the open girl near the hoop.
Lastly, remember the name Sophia Sindelar, the freshman from Rocky River saw some minutes late tonight and was extremely impressive. She was quick and got open with ease. She finished with 4 and it would been 6 but had one rattle out.
River now has a big game on the road this Saturday in Westlake while North Olmsted will also be on the road as they travel to Elyria Catholic.
