by STREETSBORO, Ohio– It was a game of runs for Streetsboro, who used an early lead to their full advantage Tuesday night and delivered an impressive 62, 38 win.
“It was confidence shooting the ball…kids were fired up and it translated over to the defensive side too,” Streetsboro coach Nick Marcini said about the way his team was able to get off to
Everything seemed to go the right way for Streetsboro throughout the first half. They started the game on a 15-0 run and nothing was going right for the Red Devils. For the first seven minutes of the game, the Red Devils were held without a point until James Durham’s layup finally went through.
“The offense really started on the defensive end,” Marcini added.
The Rockets held a 17-5 lead after the first quarter. That lead carried over into the second quarter, as second-chance points and effort plays paved the way for the Rockets all night. Whenever they sensed a double team at the top of the key, they looked down low to players like Jackson Gula and Jack Batten for easy baskets.
Sophomore guard Brody Durham tried to make plays for his team to get a spark heading into the break. He got going, making his way to the rim often for layups, ending the first half with eight of the team’s 18 points. At halftime, the Streetsboro lead was 33-18.
“Those early quick open looks resulted from getting stops, getting out in transition, and making the right passes,” Marcini stated about how his team built a comfortable lead throughout the first half.
The second half started pretty well for the Rockets as well, as a swift 7-0 forced the Red Devils to start to panic a little bit, resulting in frantic 3-point shooting that just wasn’t there all night. As a team, they connected on four 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Brody Durham paced the Red Devils with a team-high 14 points. James Durham and Steven Lincoln contributed with seven and six points each as the Red Devils couldn’t get anything going offensively.
“We told Jack and Ethan that they were going to have to play Brody one-on-one,” Marcini said about trying to stop the sophomore guard. “I hope they wore him down a little bit…I thought those two did a great job on him.”
As for the Rockets, Charles Ivory, Jackson Gula and Jack Batten stepped up in different ways during the win. Ivory, the primary ball handler Tuesday night, facilitated when needed but often got to the rim where he helped push his team into double-digit leads all night.
Gula was a floor general, doing a little bit of everything on both sides of the floor, including scoring 11 points in the first half. Batten made two 3-pointers and often found himself hitting shots that seemed like momentum shifters throughout the night.
The Rockets dominated the game from the opening tip. They even maintained a double-digit lead for the entirety of the game after starting the game on an 11-0 run with four minutes left in the first quarter.
Whether it was youth night or the entire Streetsboro community coming out to the game, the way the Rockets showed what they’re capable of doing on a nightly basis was impressive to Marcini and his staff with the regular season winding down.
“That’s six in a row now down the stretch…you got six senior leaders leading the charge and two juniors that are playing really well right now,” Marcini explained. “Our defense has been playing hard all year…hats off to our kids.”
