by Eric Clutter

Correspondent

Streetsboro — The Streetsboro Rockets and the Kent Roosevelt Rough Riders boys basketball teams shared a couple things in common as the two schools hooked up for their Dec. 4 season opener at Streetsboro.

Both schools are attempting a three-peat in their respective Portage Trail Conference divisions — Kent in the Metro, Streetsboro in the County — and each squad also is looking to replace star talent — Andre Paulk and Denerio Bryant of the Rough Riders; Robert Wilson and Carrington Hanna of the Rockets.

Paulk, Wilson and Hanna have graduated, while a knee injury has sidelined Bryant for the season.

But there still was a lot of talent on the floor Dec. 4 and the result was a very entertaining overtime game that saw the Rockets pull out a 79-73 cross-division victory.

“I tell you what, I’m not sure if there was a better game; this one was worth the money,” said Kent head coach Cameron Black. “Opening game again for two defending PTC champions. Both teams are different, both teams still can play. Both teams, I think, are going to have great seasons.”

Senior Malcolm Brooks, one of the few holdovers from the 2008-09 team that shared the County title with Waterloo, scored 27 points and junior Leon Hedgepeth, with virtually no varsity experience, added 21 points.

Hedgepeth also drained four three-pointers as the Rockets defeated the Rough Riders for the second consecutive season on opening night.

“Our backcourt really came of age,” said Streetsboro head coach Todd Muckleroy of Hedgepeth and junior Edward Julian, who supplied nine points. “They are essentially first-year varsity players. I knew that they would do well playing this season but I’m very happy with the way they played.”

The contributions of Hedgepeth and Julian were even more relevant considering that experienced point guard Dan Spindler is still recovering from a foot injury and Jay Lugo, a point-guard transfer from Field, was unable to play.

“Our kids have really worked hard up to this point,” said Muckleroy. “They have really been focused on Dec. 4 and playing against Kent. Their level of play comes up because they know Kent Roosevelt is going to bring a quality squad in here.”  

Kent enjoyed a 66-62 lead following a pair of Collin Kane free throws with 28 seconds remaining in regulation.

But Hedgepeth countered with two free tosses following a drive to the basket with 16 ticks left and then Brooks calmly returned to the line with five seconds showing and sank two free throws to knot the game at 66 and force overtime in front of a near-sellout crowd.

In the extra session, the game was tied at 70 and 73 before Brooks went to the line on two separate occasions, hitting 2-of-4 attempts to extend the lead to 75-73 with 36 seconds left.

Kent turned the ball over on its next possession with 14 seconds left and Brooks sealed the issue with four more charity tosses.

“I thought their upperclassmen at the guard position was the difference,” said Black. “[It was] their ability to take care of the basketball in the half court as well as the full court, to get good shots and control the tempo better than we did.”

Miscues hindered the Rough Riders throughout the contest. When they did take care of the ball it was delivered inside to Cameron Black II (21 points) and Marcus Wright (28 points), who dominated the paint to the tune of 49 points.

The powerful inside duo scored 35 points after halftime, including all 12 during Kent’s 12-0 run to open the third quarter that turned a five-point Streetsboro advantage (37-32) into a Rough Riders’ 44-37 lead.

While the Rough Riders ruled the paint, the Rockets were lethal from the arc, canning 10 threes for the game.

Four 3-balls — three by Hedgepeth — late in the third quarter fueled a 13-2 spurt that helped put the Rockets back on top (55-54) through 24 minutes.

“We knew it was going to be a game of runs, it always is in this gym,” said Muckleroy. “We settled them down and started understanding what was hurting us and we tried to take that away.

“At that point in time, I think we really wanted to try and turn up the heat a little bit and make their big fellas run up and down so they couldn’t post up easily when they got into a half-court set.”

Roosevelt briefly led by five early in the fourth quarter only to see the Rockets catch them at 62 with just a little more than two minutes left.

Shakeel Howard, the starting point guard in place of Bryant, scored eight points in the opening frame as Kent led 20-14 after eight minutes.

Streetsboro answered with a 23-point second stanza that put the Rockets ahead 37-32 at the intermission.

The Rockets were scheduled to visit Mantua to play PTC rival Crestwood Dec. 8. Results were not available at press time.

They are set to entertain PTC County Division foe Mogadore Dec. 11 before heading to Garrettsville for a PTC County Division showdown with James A. Garfield Dec. 15.

E-mail: stowsports@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-686-3914