The Rossford High School girls varsity basketball team played a competitive game against a tough Eastwood team for about three quarters before the Eagles pulled away for a 60-29 win.
After the opening quarter, Rossford trailed just 9-4 in what proved to be a physical matchup all evening.
The second quarter began with Gabrielle Boyd dishing to Katie Glowacki as she cut to the basket for a Bulldog basket.
The Eagles responded on the next possession, when Aubrey Haas drained two free throws.
That sparked an 11-0 Eastwood run to advance to 20-6, forcing a Rossford timeout at the 4:10 mark.
Out of the timeout, Boyd scored inside off an assist from Kiersten Johnson and freshman Scarlett Williams made a layup in transition.
Following a defensive stop, the Bulldogs snagged the rebound and set up on the half court.
Glowacki knocked down a three-pointer to cut the Eastwood lead to 20-13.
The Eagles finished the half with two trips to the line and took a 23-13 lead into the locker room.
To open the second half, Johnson came up with the steal and passed up the court to Williams, who cruised in for an uncontested layup. The Rossford momentum was short-lived though.
Another 7-0 run, highlighted by two triples forced a Bulldog timeout. But the Eagles weren’t done as Brenna Moenert scored in the paint to put them up 33-15.
Rossford eventually slowed the run when Williams hit two shots from the foul line.
Two possessions later, RHS regained the ball. Claire Logan scored inside off the inbound pass from Johnson. After Haas answered for the Eagles at the line, Glowacki nailed another three.
Trailing by 11, Moenert tossed in a layup and drew the foul. The free throw missed.
On the other end, Rossford hoisted a three. The shot missed but Boyd was there to clean it up for the easy two.
After a defensive stop, Mia DeBortoli went to the line for two shots. She missed both, but Williams grabbed the rebound and fed Johnson who knocked down a three as the third quarter came to an end.
Eastwood held a 38-27 lead as the final quarter began and then reeled off a 7-0 run. Out of a Rossford timeout, the Bulldogs’ Alexis Lenix hit a shortrange jumper, but from there it was all Eagles.
The Eastwood defense had produced turnovers all night as they pressured Rossford ball handlers up and down the floor.
The pressure finally wore the Bulldogs down. Eastwood broke free for a fast break basket to launch a 15-0 run and finish the game.
Head Coach Toby Ledesma commented that despite the score, he was pleased with his team’s energy.
“Eastwood is a really good team. They are wellcoached. I’m happy with the first half. We played hard, and I think we matched them in intensity.”
Ledesma looks for the team to continue to improve as they go forward. He intends to focus on fundamentals to get back in the win column.
“We need to make sure that we rebound,” he said. “We gave up a lot of second chance points. We need to limit our turnovers and get more shot opportunities. But with rebounding, we can eliminate some of their second chance points.”
Eastwood placed three players in double figures with Haas leading the way. She finished with 18 to lead all scorers. Moenert added 14 and Kayla Buehler chipped in 12 for the effort.
The Bulldogs were led by Glowacki and Williams, each with eight.
RHS drops to 1-6 overall and 0-4 in the Northern Buckeye Conference.
Last weekend’s RHS boys basketball game at Fostoria was canceled due to COVID-19 issues at Fostoria.