Rootstown girls basketball drawing on chemistry and painful memory to take the next step

The Rovers are 14-2 on the season, but have their sights set on bigger goals

ROOTSTOWN, Ohio - Last season didn't end the way the Rootstown girls basketball team wanted it to, falling in their first playoff game after winning their second straight Portage Trail Conference title.

Second year head coach Joe Leonard made sure his girls won't soon forget that sectional loss to Mentor Lake Catholic.

"We have the score from last year's loss, 56-49, plastered all over the locker room," Leonard said. "The girls are aware of it, and they have to see it every single day all year long."

The Rovers have used that as motivation, as they are now 14-2 on the season after a 60-41 win over Kirtland on Monday night. They have also bonded over the loss, becoming even closer with one another.

They have become so close in fact, that 5-foot-10 senior Brooklynn McIntyre and 5-foot-11 junior Nadia Lough were practically completing each other's sentences after Monday night's victory.

When asked the difference between this season and the past two, the senior started to answer before the junior picked up and finished it.

"Team chemistry," McIntyre said.

"Yep, we love playing together," Lough said. "It’s a big thing."

And part of making the Rovers successful has been that chemistry, especially between McIntyre and Lough, who had a tough time getting used to playing with one another when McIntyre was a sophomore and Lough was a freshman. The duo had been so accustomed to playing against one another that it was an adjustment to play together.

“It was more difficult because we hadn't played together, we've always played against each other, like in middle school,” Lough said. “But ever since we learned to click, it's just been a two man game in there. And we know to trust each other.”

They still play against each other in practice, which both feels has been a positive.

"We still play against each other all the time (in practice)," McIntyre said.

"We (make) each other better," Lough said, finishing her teammate's thought. "We've always done that. We've always said that."

"It's important to us," McIntyre finished. "Because we would not be where we are if we didn't work to make each other better."

The two are combining to average 20 points and 17 rebounds per game, while 5-foot-10 sophomore Colbie Curall adds 10.2 points and nearly four more rebounds per contest. 

You read that right - the Rovers have three players in their starting lineup that are at least 5-foot-10.

"Those girls are huge to what we do," Leonard said. "In years past, we were dumping inside, we were old school and we really focused on that and we still do that quite a bit. Those girls are our mainstay."

But on the other end of the spectrum, Rootstown has six players on the roster who are 5-foot-5 or shorter and all average at least 13 minutes per game. The reason so many girls see the floor with regularity is because Leonard uses the pieces he has in the most efficient way he knows how.

"We have six girls that are under 5-foot-5," Leonard said. "We do have our height and we do have our physical girls inside but we have some real speedsters on the outside and we're taking advantage of that with our press."

That press has caused fits for opponents all season long and did so again on Monday, when Kirtland turned the ball over five times in the first 64 seconds of the game, nine times in the first 5:26 and 35 times overall before the benches were emptied with 2:40 remaining in the game.

"That’s not a high, but that's a good night for us," Leonard said. "Night in and night out, we come in and we want to play that type of tempo. And if we can do that, we will do it. And if we can do that for four quarters, we're probably going to get 30 some turnovers or steals."

That tempo is another reason  the head coach feels it is important to constantly rotate players in and out of the game.

"After a couple minutes of running this press, we know that we need to sub in and out and so we do that," Leonard said. "We have a pre-scheduled rotation that we sub in and out and so that keeps our girls fresh and if you're not used to that, the opponents seem to have issues with that. So it allows us to play and I play nine girls each night."

Rootstown players huddle around head coach Joe Leonard for final instructions prior to a game against Kirtland on January 29, 2024 / Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports

It's something the players have worked really hard on to try to get it down to a perfect science as the season rolls on.

"I think that as a team, we play really well trying to jump and put so much pressure on the ball that it's just so hard to break it," sophomore 5-foot-2 guard Kelsey Bittecuffer said. "And I think that all of the time we put into the press and how we've learned how to put it all together, I think we've done it so well that it's so effective. 

"I think we have so many people that can play every single role that when one gets tired, one comes out, one new one could come in, and they're just as effective as the next one."

Bittecuffer, who transferred from CVCA before this season, joins McIntyre, Lough, Curall and Abby White in the starting lineup, while Addy Germann, Melanie Plecko, Porter Smith and Sasha Nichols all see significant time.

And while Rootstown preaches teamwork, it isn't just lip service. The team has bought in completely, as evidenced by their stats. The team averages 61.5 points per game, but their leading scorer is Lough, at just 12.9 points per contest. 

"We have a lot of girls who are contributing," Leonard said. "And so that's makes it difficult for the opponent to prepare for."

It's that sense of team that makes the Rovers feel like this just might be the year they make some noise come the postseason. They want to add a third straight conference title, but they have their sights set on more.

"The conference banner is great, and that's certainly a goal,” Leonard said. “But all year long, it has been about advancing in the postseason. And so we have addressed that from day one that we have to make sure that we're better on our details and we have to play as a team. We believe that this group here this year is primed to do that."

When asked what it will take to make their coach right, McIntyre and Lough were again in unison. 

"Staying together," McIntyre said.

"Love for the team," Lough added.

And a common goal of erasing that 56-49 score from the locker room.

-- Ryan Isley | ryan@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveoh