Brookfield’s season ends, 49-43

The Warriors lost to
Rootstown in the Division III regional semifinals.

By DOUG CHAPIN

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

CUYAHOGA FALLS — The Brookfield High girls basketball team came to the end of its successful tournament run on Wednesday night. But perhaps more significantly, the Warriors’ 49-43 loss to Rootstown in the Division III regional semifinal round marked the end of the careers of seniors Morgan Bonekovic, Kelly Jones and Lauren Gentile.

“It’s been so much fun the last four years with these three seniors,” Brookfield coach Shawn Hammond said. “I told them they were one of 16 teams left and that’s something to be proud of. There are a lot of teams that go home, there are some big teams that lost in the first round. We were able to get to this point and it’s another step for our program. You’ve got to give credit to those seniors, the leadership they have. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

The trio led the Warriors to back-to-back Trumbull Athletic Conference championships. Brookfield also reached the district championship game at United Local High in 2007 and 2006.

Bonekovic produced her usual 18-point, nine-rebound performance which included three blocked shots and four steals. Gentile added six points and six rebounds and Jones contributed three assists and four steals. The Warriors (22-3) also got 11 points from Kodi Brenner.

Brookfield led 14-11 after one quarter, but struggled in the second period, making just one field goal in eight attempts. Rootstown (20-5) led 25-18 at the half.

The third quarter was the Warriors’ turn for defense, as they held the Rovers to five points. Brookfield scored the first eight points of the quarter for a 26-25 lead midway through the period, but trailed 30-28 at the end of the quarter.

“Defensively we tried to mix it up with different lineups,” Hammond said. “We didn’t think we matched up real well, speed wise, and their guards are good-sized and physical. We had to go to a 2-3 zone and went to a 1-2-2 late in the game. We were able to get out and generate some steals. Unfortunately, we missed some layups in the second half.”

In the second half, Rootstown committed to keeping the ball out of Bonekovic’s hands inside.

“They had a double-team on her most of the time,” Hammond said. “We were able to free her up a little bit, but they did a nice job. I thought our ball movement wasn’t what we wanted, I think we could have gotten more shots. I don’t know if we were just looking inside too much.”

Midway through the final quarter, Rootstown had stretched its lead to 41-34. Brenner then nailed a 3-pointer to make it 41-37. The score was 44-41 after Meghan Reiser tallied for Brookfield with 31 seconds left to play.

On the ensuing inbounds play, Reiser intercepted a Rootstown pass at midcourt, but then saw her pass to Brenner picked off by Rootstown. The Warriors still had a chance after Brenner made it 46-43 with two free throws at the 11-second mark.

Brookfield fouled immediately and was rewarded when Paige Berger missed two free throws, but the ball was tipped out to the Rovers’ Ashley Christani. She sank three-of-four from the line in the final six seconds to clinch the win.

Christani led Rootstown with 15 points, Lauren Hughes scored 12, Monica Mims had 10 to go with 14 rebounds, and Berger tallied nine. The Rovers held a 30-21 edge in rebounding.