Lady Knights exit with loss to Rocky Grove
ROCKY GROVE – There are plenty of ways to win a basketball game.
On Saturday, Rocky Grove did it with defense and foul shooting.
The Lady Orioles made only six shots from the field in their 32-25 win over Eisenhower in the first round of the District 10 Class 2A playoffs, but converted 20-of-30 free throws including 12-of-14 in the fourth quarter. Taylor Dziekciaz led the way with a game-high 18 points, 12 of which came from the foul line.
“I think both teams played aggressive defense,” said Eisenhower coach Mike Logue. “Both of us understand our limitations on the offensive end. For them it’s been (Dziekciaz) all year, for us it’s been Kirsten Baran all year.
Each coach knew we had to limit the other side and to do that we needed to play a very physical, tough defensive game.”
The tone of the game was evident early on as neither team was able to score until midway through the first quarter. Dziekciaz ended the drought with a pair of free throws and followed with a layup before teammate Mandie Ruditis grabbed an offensive rebound and hit the putback for a 6-0 run, forcing an Eisenhower timeout.
More than six minutes had gone by before Baran drew a foul and sunk both free throws to put the Lady Knights on the board. Emiley Wheeler added Ike’s first successful shot from the field to keep the score at 10-4 in Rocky Grove’s favor after one.
Dziekciaz added two more free throws early in the second before the teams fell into another long scoreless stretch. With her team trailing 12-4, Eisenhower’s Joni Zortman hit a foul shot with 1:57 left in the half and followed with a steal that led to a transition layup. Wheeler knocked down a jumper not long after that cut the deficit to 12-9 at the break.
Ike continued to battle back in the third quarter, eventually tying the game on a free throw by Savannah McKown with 1:30 remaining in the frame. Rocky Grove answered quickly on the other end, but Baran hit a shot at the buzzer that knotted the score at 18-18 heading into the fourth.
Baran gave the Lady Knights their first lead of the night when she converted the front end of a one-and-one midway through the fourth quarter. After a Ruditis free throw tied it up again, Dziekciaz came away with a steal and went hard to the basket, resulting in Baran being called for her fifth foul with just over two minutes left in the game.
“That’s a big impact,” Logue said of losing his senior captain. “We rely on her for a lot, whether she’s scoring, screening or rebounding – without a doubt she’s been our number one rebounder four years in a row and that’s where losing her hurts the most.”
Dziekciaz hit yet another free throw to put her team ahead and added a jumper after stealing Ike’s inbounds pass. The Lady Knights were forced to foul with time ticking away and Dziekciaz, Peyton Miller and Emerson Ekis combined to go 8-of-8 from the line late in the game to help secure the win despite Eisenhower getting late scores from McKown and Shelby Kuzminski.
Rocky Grove (10-12 overall) will move on to play Region 3 Champion Cochranton (18-3) in the District 10 Class 2A round of eight next week. Eisenhower’s season is over at 8-15.
“We’re a young group, and one of the reasons we came to the playoffs is to get the young ones some experience so they realize what it’s like,” Logue said. “The seniors gave it their all tonight. I thought Joni Zortman stepped up and played one of her best games at point guard this year; made some really good decisions. She and Kirsten did a nice job being leaders for some of the younger girls.”
Baran was Eisenhower’s offensive leader with 11 points to go along with 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Zortman added three points and three assists.
In other 2A action, Saegertown rolled to a 56-23 win over Iroquois on Saturday to round out the quarterfinal field. The Lady Panthers will play West Middlesex with Cochranton vs. Rocky Grove, Reynolds vs. Maplewood and Cambridge Springs vs. Mercer all slated for Saturday, February 25.
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D-10 2A First Round
Eisenhower at Rocky Grove
EISENHOWER (25): Zortman 1 1-3 3, Nizzi 0 0-0 0, Wheeler 2 0-4 4, Smelko 0 0-0 0, Mineweaser 1 0-0 2, Kuzminski 1 0-0 2, McKown 1 1-2 3, Giannini 0 0-0 0, Baran 3 5-6 11. Totals 9 7-15 25.
ROCKY GROVE (32): Dziekciaz 3 12-16 18, M. Ruditis 2 4-10 8, Boley 1 0-0 2, Miller 0 2-2 2, O’Neil 0 0-0 0, Ekis 0 2-2 2, Peterson 0 0-0 0, A. Ruditis 0 0-0 0, Metz 0 0-0 0. Totals 6 20-30 32
By Quarters
Eisenhower 4 5 9 7 – 25
Rocky Grove 10 2 6 14 – 32
3-pointers: none
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