ROOTSTOWN, OH- Wednesday night the Rootstown Rovers (14-2) welcomed in their rival Southeast Pirates (8-8) in a Portage Trail Conference matchup. The Rovers were looking for a second straight win after a tough loss at Lutheran East while the Pirates were also looking for their second straight win.
Rootstown came out fast and furious going up 10-0 less than two minutes into the first quarter with six of those coming from senior Brooklynn McIntyre. After a quick timeout by Southeast coach Ashley Callihan, the Pirates responded with a 7-0 run which then prompted a timeout by Rovers coach Joe Leonard. The end result was another Rover 10-0 run to end the quarter with a 20-7 lead.
Brooklynn McIntyre - Rootstown Rovers
After Nadia Lough split a pair of free throws for the Rovers to start the first quarter, Pirates freshman Jenna Canale scored to make it a 21-9 game. Those would be the only points of the quarter for Southeast as the Rovers scored the final 16 points of the half which included back to back three balls by junior guard Addy Germann. She led all scorers with 9 points at the break. Rootstown took a 37-9 lead into halftime.
Nadia Lough - Rootstown Rovers
The Rovers picked it right back up to start the second half as Lough scored the first six points of the third quarter putting Rootstown up 43-9. Kristen Campbell split a pair of free throws for Southeast before Rootstown went on a 7-0 run to push the lead to 40 at 50-10. The quarter ended on a Lexie Morris split from the line and Rootstown led 50-11. The Rovers outscored the Pirates 30-4 in the second and third quarters combined.
Both teams emptied the benches with a running clock in the fourth quarter with the Rovers outscoring the Pirates 7-6 in the final quarter to take the win 57-17.
McIntyre and Lough both put up double/doubles in the victory. McIntyre had 12 points and 10 rebounds while Lough put up 13 points and 11 boards.
The Rovers will look to keep it rolling on Monday at Aquinas while the Pirates look to bounce back Saturday vs Crestwood.
Unofficial stats:
Rootstown:
Nadia Lough: 13 pts, 11 reb
Brooklynn McIntyre: 12 pts, 10 reb
Addy Germann: 9 pts, 3 three balls
Kelsey Bittecuffer: 8 pts
Colbie Curall: 6 pts
Southeast:
Lexie Morris: 4 pts, 4 reb
Bailey Long, Bailey Morris, Claire Dillner, Jenna Canale: 2 pts each
