Canton, Ohio – The Streetsboro Rockets held off the Canfield Cardinals, 51-45, in the Canton regional semifinals Wednesday evening.

The two teams played on February 8th, with Streetsboro emerging victorious over Canfield, 38-30.

Streetsboro got things started with a triple from Sydney Abbuhl to open things up. Canfield would knot things up over two possessions when Jenna Triveri split a pair of free throws on one possession, then sank a couple on another. Abbuhl would sink her second triple of the quarter to give the Rockets back the lead.

Canfield would take their first lead at 11-10 in the first quarter thanks to the efforts of Jenna Triveri, who had baskets on back to back possession. The junior guard finished with 16 points for the Cardinals.

Streetsboro would retake the lead when Ava Bodovetz split a pair of free throws, and Olivia Johnson-Wilson sank a layup and a triple. The Rockets led 16-13 after one.

Streetsboro would increase their margin to as much as 23-15 before triples from Jenna Triveri and Ceci Muckleroy trimmed the margin to two. The Rockets led 26-22 at the half, with Olivia Johnson-Wilson scoring nine first-half points.

It didn’t take long for Canfield to retake the lead, as Carly Fleming cashed in a triple. Fleming then had a steal and turned it into a layup. The Cardinals led 27-26 with 6:32 left in the third quarter.  Streetsboro took back the lead thanks to buckets from Ava Bodovetz and Olivia Johnson-Wilson on consecutive possessions. The Rockets led 39-33 after three.

In the fourth quarter, the two teams traded triples. Ceci Muckleroy hit a triple for Canfield, followed by one from Raegan Henson of Streetsboro. Sofia Castronova would connect from long range for the Cardinals, as would Sydney Abbuhl for the Rockets.

Streetsboro led 45-41 late in the ball game, and came up with three huge defensive stands to keep Canfield from making it a one-score game. University of Illinois commit Naomi Benson had a big fourth quarter, scoring eight points. She picked up key rebounds on offense and defense, and had a huge putback to put the Rockets ahead, 47-41. Benson finished with 11 points on the evening.

The Rockets would ice the game at the free throw line to punch their ticket to the regional final.

Streetsboro will take on Laurel School in a rematch of the 2024 Barberton Division II regional final on Saturday, March 1st, at 1:00pm. In addition to the 11 points scored by Benson, junior guard Olivia Johnson-Wilson and senior guard Sydney Abbuhl also scored 11.

In addition to the 16 point effort from Jenna Triveri, junior guard Carly Fleming also chipped in 11 points.

Extended highlights below: