Rootstown, OH- The Portage County girls high school basketball season got underway on Wednesday night in Rootstown as the Rovers welcomed in the Field Falcons. The Rovers were coming off of a 17 win season and second straight Portage Trail Conference Title while the Falcons looked to improve on their 14 win 2022/23 season.
The two teams went back and forth to start the game exchanging one point leads through the first half of quarter one. Unfortunately for the Falcons, Olivia Bey rolled her ankle not even a minute into the game and had to be helped off the court. She would not return. The Rovers closed the quarter on a 10-4 run to take a 17-11 lead after an Addy Germann three ball and Sasha Nichols score gave them the 6 point advantage to end the quarter.
Quarter two started the same way the first did with the teams playing even up through the first four minutes before the Rovers closed the quarter on an 11-0 run to open up a 14 point lead with Cobie Curall, Brooklynn McIntyre and Nadia Lough leading the charge. They led the Falcons 32-18 at the half. Curall led the scoring for the Rovers with 7 points while McIntyre dropped in 6. Delilah Rahe paced the Falcons with 8 first half points and 7 rebounds.
After the Rovers started quarter three with an inside basket by McIntyre, the Falcons went on a 10-0 run led by Rahe and Ally Harlin to close the gap to 34-28 late in the third. The Rovers were able to close out the quarter with the final 4 points to push the lead out to 10 at 38-28 heading to the fourth.
Rootstown started the fourth quarter with a purpose in hopes of putting this one away. They started on a 10-0 run highlighted by 3 Colbie Curall steals that led to six Rover points. Midway through the fourth the Rovers had built a 20 point lead at 48-28 seemingly ending all hope for the Falcons. Field did not get the memo. Over the next four minutes the Falcons went on a 17-0 run to cut the Rover lead to 3 with 28 seconds to play. Rahe and Harlin combined for 11 of those 17 points. Field was forced to foul McIntyre with under 10 seconds to play. She made the first, missed the second and grabbed the rebound before passing it off to Melanie Plecko as they ran out the clock hanging on for a 49-45 victory.
Curall and McIntyre each scored 11 points for the Rovers while Nadia Lough grabbed 11 boards. Delilah Rahe had a stellar game for Field with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks.
Unofficial stats
Rootstown:
Brooklynn McIntyre: 11 pts, 5 reb
Colbie Curall: 11 pts
Nadia Lough: 9 pts, 11 reb
Field:
Delilah Rahe: 20 pts, 11 reb, 3 blk
Ally Harlin: 14 pts, 6 reb
Abby Harlin: 4 pts, 9 reb
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