by ** All Real Estate Agents, and also any resident of Rocky River or Lakewood will receive 50% sponsorship pricing for their small business this week**
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Rocky River used a smothering full court press along with hot third quarter shooting to capture the 56-42 victory over GLC Rival Lakewood at home tonight as the regular season begins to wind down. They were led by the senior, Ava Patti as she scored 29 in the win.
The Pirates had a mixture of weapons tonight with Rori Vesy scoring 6 while Mackenzie Russell had 5 as both Claudia Roche and Kylie Crane scored 4 each. Olive Dewey and Lenore Wright both scored 3 while Nora Bruder finished the Pirate tally with 2.
The Rangers battled all night and led a few times in the first half as they were led by Delaney Garcia with 14 while Layla Smith had 8 and Lucy Henrikson finished with 7. It was Charleigh Doxley marking 6 as Sophia Zarbo, Elizabeth Doup and Bookman all finished with 2.
The Pirates have gotten off to a slow start a few times this season, and tonight was no different as they went cold early in this one. It allowed Lakewood to jump out to a 5-0 lead midway through the first. A Claudia Roche got them on the board before a score by Doxley increased the Ranger lad to 7-2. After a bucket by Russell cut it to 7-4, Ava Patti went full on Reggie Miller, scoring 4 points in 4 seconds, and suddenly the Pirates led it 8-7 late into the first. A full court press did it again, and just like that, it was Patti with another bucket for 6 points in 20 seconds as the Rangers couldn’t break the press. This River flurry helped the Pirates take a 12-9 lead after one.
The Rangers scored the first 4 points of the second quarter on a Zarbo foul shot and Garcia three to reclaim the lead. A basket by Doup increased it to 15-12 Rangers. The Rangers then had numerous chances to increase the lead but simply couldn’t. The Pirates eventually took advantage of this and started sinking buckets late into the second quarter, which allowed them to take a 19-17 lead into the break. Once again, all the points came late and where the result of constant Pirate pressure. A big three from Dewey was mixed in the scoring run. Patti led all first half scorers with 12.
Rocky River began the second half on a 6-2 run to increase their lead to 25-19, with the 6 points actually being their largest lead of the game at that point. From there, Lakewood strung together back-to-back baskets along with a foul shot from Garcia and it was suddenly only a 1 point River lead at 25-24 midway through the third.
The tight game wouldn’t last long however, as the Pirates finished the third quarter on an incredible 18-5 run as they caught fire over the final stretch of the third quarter. It was 30-29 at one point, with about two minutes to play when River exploded for 13 straight to close the quarter. The big shots coming from consecutive touch and tallies from Ava Patti along with numerous points off of a full court pressure turnovers. Lenore Wright hit a three seconds before the buzzer to hand Rocky River a 43-29 lead heading into the final frame. Patti had 26 as we headed to the fourth.
The Rangers did what they could to try and make it close in the fourth, but it was too little too late as Rocky River hung on for the 56-42 victory at home.
