Still perfect: Rockets win to stay in 1st

By Joe Scalzo

Lowellville improved to 10-0 in Tier Two of the ITCL’s with its eighth straight victory.

LOWELLVILLE — Lowellville High girls basketball coach Tony Matisi spends a lot of time during each game telling his team — particularly his three freshmen starters —to slow down, be patient and play under control.

“They’re driving me crazy,” he said, breaking into a big smile.

That’s the other thing. He spends a lot of time smiling.

“Practice is fun,” he said following Monday’s 54-38 win over visiting Leetonia, his team’s eighth straight victory. “These kids work so doggone hard in practice. I’ve never had a group like this.

“We’ve got 12 kids and they work their butts off. It’s unbelievable. You tell them one thing and they do it. It’s amazing.”

Matisi saw this coming — sort of — during summer practices, when the talented freshmen-to-be displayed the speed and athleticism that prompted several upperclassmen to make other plans for the winter.

His lone senior, Chelsea Marrie, was a little worried at first (wouldn’t you be?) but the kids won her over.

“I thought it was gonna be weird at first, but it’s actually a lot of fun,” said Marie, one of just two upperclassmen. “I knew they would have to work but they’re very talented and they’ve proved themselves.

“I really enjoy it.”

The young talent was on display again Monday, as 5-foot-3 guard Taylor Hvisdak poured in 17 points to go with her seven rebounds. But it was her work on defense that stood out. She had eight of the Rockets’ 18 steals as the team’s full-court pressure created 25 Leetonia turnovers.

Clarissa Perkins had eight points and eight rebounds, while Ciera Cramer scored nine for the Bears (8-8, 6-4 Inter Tri-County League Tier Two), who had nine turnovers in the first quarter and fell behind 14-4.

“Lowellville is a great team and we didn’t come out ready to play,” said Bears coach Kelli Paxson. “They pressured us defensively, we had a hard time getting the ball down the floor and we had a problem with turnovers.

“They’re [the Rockets] young and energetic. You’ve got to give them all the credit in the world. They get the job done defensively.”

Lowellville (12-3, 10-0) had a problem with Leetonia’s height — at 5-8, Marrie is the team’s tallest player by two inches, which explains why the Rockets were outrebounded 34-26 — and that weakness is the one thing had Matisi worried.

“We’re so doggone small, it’s gonna catch up with us,” said Matisi, whose team nonetheless earned the top seed in the Division IV tournament at Hubbard. “We have to use our speed and athleticism.

“But at the beginning of the year, we were too out of control, so we had to take it down a notch. We’ve picked up our defense over the last two, three weeks.”

Junior Jamie Hynes added 12 points for Lowellville before tweaking her already injured knee in the fourth quarter and leaving the game. Freshman Ashley Moore added 11 points and seven rebounds.

The win sets up a huge matchup with McDonald on Thursday. The Rockets can clinch the league title with three more wins.

“I kind of thought from the beginning that we’d do very well,” said Marrie. “But now that it’s here, it’s like, ‘Wow.’ ”

Of course, there is trouble ahead. The Rockets finish the regular season against Division II power Salem.

“Who’s the braniac that scheduled them?” Matisi said, grinning.

When asked what he’s going to do to stop the Quakers’ standout forward, Amy Scullion, Matisi laughed.

“Oh man, we’re gonna put two people on her,” he said. “We’re gonna have somebody on somebody else’s shoulders.”

scalzo@vindy.com