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Rootstown senior forward Ashleigh Pickens broke a school record with 43 points en route to the Rovers' 74-58 victory over Our Lady of the Elms on Saturday.
ROOTSTOWN, Ohio – Most high school athletes would consider the chance to sign a Division I National Letter of Intent in one sport and set a school record in another a great career.
Rootstown senior Ashleigh Pickens just calls it Saturday.
Pickens – who finished second behind Cortland Maplewood senior Jordan Moxley in last spring’s Division III state track and field championship in the high jump – began her day by signing her scholarship to compete for the Cincinnati Bearcats in track. The Rovers forward followed that up by breaking the school record for points in a girls basketball game by pouring in 43 points in Rootstown’s 74-58 win over Our Lady of the Elms.
“I did my letter of intent signing with Cincinnati, it was nice to have my whole team there supporting me, and then we came here and won,” Pickens said. “I’m obviously very excited, it’s been a good day. I didn’t realize I (broke the school record) and I wasn’t trying to do it.”
It took the 5-foot-9 Pickens every bit of the game’s 32 minutes to break the record, sinking a breakaway layup as the final buzzer sounded. The basket broke former Rovers (8-10) standout Robin Dunn’s mark of 42 points set in 1975.
“This is my second year here," Rootstown coach Jay Airhart said. "Last year Ashleigh was a really good athlete playing basketball. This year’s she’s still a really good athlete, but now she’s become a really good basketball player.
“She’s pretty dangerous. (In) my opinion she’s certainly an MVP of our league caliber player.”
Pickens put her stamp on both the beginning and end of the game, scoring 13 of her team’s 14 first-quarter points, including a personal 11-4 run that turned a 6-3 deficit into a 14-10 Rootstown advantage after one period.
Pickens turned around in the fourth quarter, after Panthers (9-8) senior Jessica Frew sank a pair of free throws that cut the Rovers’ lead to 55-48, and scored Rootstown’s next 11 points to give her team a 66-52 lead.
“The game Pickens had,” Elms coach Heather Giel said. "You can’t take that away from a kid. She had a great game and ended up with a school record.”
Pickens and fellow forward Casey Miracle (12 points) were both key to the Rovers’ victory, exploiting a size advantage down low that Rootstown continuously fed.
“I thought we did a much better job in the second half rebounding. On the other end we made more of a focus of getting the ball inside,” Airhart said. “The guards did a nice job on some lob passes, even though Ashleigh had 43 points somebody had to get it inside to get those 43 points.
“I didn’t look at our assists, but there had to be a few of them.”
Pickens and Miracle combined for 18 rebounds, and when the pair weren’t making baskets, they were forcing Elms to commit fouls. The duo combined to shoot 40 free throws.
“There were a lot of fouls called, it was very hard to get in a rhythm,” Giel said. “It’s not consistent at all.
"Miracle did a good job crashing the boards. We're a small team and we do what we can with our size."
Along with Pickens and Miracle, Madison Hartung scored 13 points to help lead the Rovers. The Elms was led by senior Tessa Haneline’s 17 points. Frew also had 12 points, and Rachel Coury added 11 in the losing effort.