Rootstown tops Southeast, wins outright Portage Trail Conference girls basketball title
PALMYRA TWP. — The Pirates crashed their party a year ago.
The Rovers wouldn't allow a repeat.
Rootstown celebrated an outright Portage Trail Conference girls basketball championship Wednesday with a 55-30 victory over host Southeast.
"It means a lot because last year we shared it and that was all of our goals this year," Rovers senior guard Kylie McColloch said. "Like, none of us wanted to share it, especially with them, so it really means a lot to come out and win it ourselves because we push each other during practice, and it wasn't just like we depend on a couple of people. Everyone really pulled through tonight."
Forced to share last year's PTC title with Mogadore after dropping its league finale against Southeast, Rootstown wrote a different story Wednesday night.
Shaking off some early nerves, with both teams turning it over a ton in the opening minutes, the Rovers (16-5, 8-0) scored on the break early and then started draining shots as the night went on.
"I thought initially we were just nervous," Rootstown coach Joe Leonard said. "I thought the girls, as much as they've played big games and last year they shared a title, I just thought coming out they were a little nervous and it showed. But after the first quarter, I'm like, 'Look, breathe, relax, we're up,' and so then I just thought we started to execute, shots started to fall."
Porter Smith 3-pointer, Nadia Lough fast-break finishes help Rootstown jump in front
With the Pirates up 3-2 midway through the opening quarter, Porter Smith put the Rovers in front when she circled out to the left wing, took a pass from fellow junior guard Melanie Plecko and drained a 3-pointer.
Sophomores Nadia Lough and Sasha Nichols added "pick-sixes" to push Rootstown's lead to 9-4 in the closing minutes of the opening quarter.
Lough, despite battling an ankle injury she sustained a couple of weeks ago, later raced two defensive rebounds down the floor for layups through contact.
"It was just the want," Lough said. "I just wanted this game and I wanted to play like me."
Add a few nifty cuts to the corner for baseline jumpers by Nichols and Smith and the Rovers were off to the races, leading by double digits for the bulk of the evening.
"The girls are comfortable with what we're running," Leonard said. "They like what we're running and that always helps, and so they're starting to get confident. And then when you build up a lead, they knew what was at stake tonight, so they weren't going to be denied, and I'm just happy for them because they put in so much work."
Perhaps the most extraordinary thing Wednesday was Rootstown's balance, as one player after another took turns scoring, from Lough racing down the court for fast-break buckets to Nichols draining baseline jumpers to junior guard Abby White bridging the final quarter break with two dagger 3-pointers.
The box score made that balance crystal clear as no Rovers player reached double figures but eight had multiple field goals.
After struggling early, Rootstown made more than 50% of its shots from the field in the second (7-of-13) and third (6-of-9) quarters and drained four 3-pointers in the second half. Lough led the Rovers in scoring, notching nine points and eight rebounds, and Nichols, White and Smith had eight points apiece.
Emmi Smallfield led the Pirates with seven points, and Sophia Fischer had six points and seven boards.
Southeast forced plenty of turnovers but endured long lulls on the offensive end, going without a field goal from the 6:15 mark of the first quarter until the 3:20 mark of the second (nearly nine minutes).
Overall, the Pirates made just 11 of 40 (27.5%) shots from the field, including 1 of 9 (11.1%) from deep.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Rootstown tops Southeast, wins Portage Trail Conference title outright
