ROMM PHOTOGRAPHY
Wadsworth senior Jessie Gearhart (left) and the Grizzlies are the top seed in the Medina Div. I District girls basketball tourney, joining No. 2 seed Firestone, No. 3 Kenmore and No. 4 Highland.
Senior guard Ashleigh Pickens’ record-setting performance in Rootstown’s 74-58 win over Our Lady of the Elms on Saturday was a perfect point of emphasis in second-year coach Jay Airhart’s squad rising up this season to take Rovers basketball to new heights.
A year after finishing with a 4-17 record, Rootstown (8-10, 6-6) has already doubled last season's win total with two games left to play. Even more impressive is that the Rovers currently sit in a four-way tie for third place in the highly competitive Portage Trail Conference County Division. With wins over Garrettsville Garfield and Southeast – who they beat in the teams’ first contest this season – Rootstown could finish the year with a winning record in league play.
Pickens, who broke the school record for points in a game with 43, has been central to that turnaround in what has been a challenging year for the Rovers.
“Ashleigh a year ago was a really good athlete playing basketball, now she’s a really good basketball player,” Airhart said. “As a senior her attitude and focus in practice and games has been outstanding.
“In my opinion she’s an MVP of our league caliber player.”
Pickens, a University of Cincinnati track and field signee, was already the school record-holder in the high jump with a leap of 5-foot-6.5-inches.
As a team Rootstown has seen three players lost for the season to ACL injuries, making the team’s transformation all the more impressive.
“We’ve had to overcome a lot of injuries in the last month, that’s a really good, good win for us heading into the tournament,” Airhart said.
The Rovers drew a first-round bye for the sectional and district tournament draw Sunday and will face the winner of Wellington and Middlefield Cardinal in the first round.
Second Season Setup
Following Sunday’s district tournament draws, here’s a brief look at each district being represented by the SportsInk.com schools from Summit, Medina and Portage counties.
Division I
Akron District, Ellet HS
SportsInk.com Schools (6): Kent Roosevelt, Stow-Munroe Falls, Hudson, Nordonia, Twinsburg, Walsh Jesuit
Top four seeds (in order): Twinsburg, Hudson, Howland, Walsh Jesuit
Summary: Defending state champion Twinsburg is the favorite until someone knocks the Tigers off, but teams like Hudson, Howland and Stow have the firepower to potentially get that done. A Walsh Jesuit-Aurora matchup will produce an interesting wildcard for the Tigers to possibly deal with in the district semifinals.
Medina District, Medina HS
SportsInk.com Schools (11): Ellet, Wadsworth, Copley, Cloverleaf, Highland, Firestone, Barberton, Cuyahoga Falls, Brunswick, Akron Garfield, Kenmore
Top four seeds (in order): Wadsworth, Firestone, Kenmore, Highland
Summary: There’s almost guaranteed to be a local champion from this district as only Strongsville comes from outside the area. As reigning Akron District champions, Wadsworth comes in with the potential to repeat, this time in Medina. Firestone, Kenmore and Brunswick are all teams that could push the Grizzlies out of the tournament.
Parma District, Valley Forge HS
SportsInk.com Schools (1): Medina
Top four seeds (in order): Midpark, Medina, North Royalton, St. Joseph Academy
Summary: Medina comes in as the second seed and will face the winner of Lakewood-Bedford in the sectional finals. If the Bees get past that game they will face stiff tests in the district rounds. Medina and North Royalton split their regular-season meetings, and senior Rachel Theriot and Midpark are currently ranked third in the state.
North Canton District, Walsh University
SportsInk.com Schools (1): Green
Top four seeds (in order): Lake, Hoover, Canton McKinley, Wooster
Summary: It’s an absolutely loaded region for the Bulldogs to have to go through with 2010 state champion Canton McKinley a three-seed. Green will likely face the top-seeded Blue Streaks in a backyard rivalry, if Lake gets past Massillon Perry.
Division II
Austintown District, Austintown-Fitch HS
SportsInk.com Schools (4): Southeast, Streetsboro, Ravenna, Crestwood
Top four seeds (in order): Ravenna, West Branch, Struthers, Canfield
Summary: After finishing as a district runner-up to Walsh Jesuit the last two years, Ravenna no longer has to worry about the Warriors, but having Division II’s 10th-ranked team in Beloit West Branch in the same district isn’t much of a reward. That’s to say as long as both teams advance to the district championship game.
Macedonia District, Nordonia HS
SportsInk.com Schools (6): Buchtel, CVCA, Akron North, St. Vincent-St. Mary, Tallmadge, Revere, Woodridge
Top four seeds (in order): Hathaway Brown, St. Vincent-St. Mary, Woodridge, CVCA
Summary: Being undefeated doesn’t get you much in this district, as Woodridge comes in as the third seed, but that stands to reason with Division II power, and reigning state champion, Hathaway Brown in the district. The Blazers are big, fast and talented, a deadly combination to district championship wishes of other teams. A potential district semifinal between the Bulldogs and St. Vincent-St. Mary could be a great matchup.
Uniontown District, Lake HS
SportsInk.com Schools (7): Akron East, Manchester, Field, Archbishop Hoban, Coventry, Springfield, Norton
Top four seeds (in order): Manchester, Hoban, Norton, Marlington
Summary: How does a district with two top-five teams and a third that comes in as a district champion sound? Rough, right? That’s this year’s Uniontown district with Manchester and Hoban coming in as state ranked teams, and Norton was the Massillon district champion a year ago. Norton and the Knights have met in two consecutive district semifinals, and this year could make a third, while Manchester would seem to be in control to make the final.
Elyria District, Elyria HS
SportsInk.com Schools (1): Buckeye
Top four seeds (in order): Keystone, Rocky River, Parma Hts. Holy Name, Clearview
Summary: Buckeye draws a first-round bye from this district, but will likely face second-seeded Rocky River for that bye. That’s assuming Rocky River can get past Sheffield Brookside.
Division III
Barberton District, Barberton HS
SportsInk.com Schools (5): Waterloo, Black River, Garrettsville Garfield, Mogadore, Rootstown
Top four seeds (in order): Elyria Catholic, Berkshire, Waterloo, Rootstown
Summary: The PTC County Division has two teams that could make real noise in the district with Waterloo and Rootstown, while Mogadore moves up to Division III after three-straight years of making the district championship game in Division IV. Coming in as the top seed Elyria Catholic would still have to be considered the favorite.
Division IV
Creston District, Norwayne HS
SportsInk.com Schools (2): Our Lady of the Elms, East Canton
Summary: East Canton comes in as returning district semifinalist and Our Lady of the Elms is a much-improved team that already has 10 wins on the year.
Rootstown District, Rootstown HS
SportsInk.com Schools (1): Windham
Summary: The Bombers have a first-round bye and will face the winner of Viena Mathews and Fairport Harding in a sectional championship game. Windham’s big test would come after that game when the Bombers could meet top seed and ninth-ranked Cortland Maplewood.
Poll Posturing
Not much has changed in the Division I or Division II Associated Press state girls basketball poll where the Twinsburg Tigers currently hold down the No. 4 spot in Division I, and Manchester, Ravenna and Archbishop Hoban hold the second, fourth and fifth spots, respectively, in Division II.
However, that could be altering as we get closer to naming the state poll champions. Last Saturday, Division II’s No. 1 Dayton Carroll fell to Detroit Country Day 63-48 for their first loss of the season. That could seemingly open the door for undefeated Manchester to move up to the top spot when the new rankings are announced on Wednesday. There are still three editions of the poll before the final weekly edition is announced Feb. 22.
A year ago the Ravenna Ravens captured the state poll championship with a 19-1 regular season.