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Girard takes out Rootstown, clinches district final repeat
By STEVE WILAJ
WARREN
Not that Girard was looking ahead.
But with Tuesday’s 53-33 win against Rootstown in a Division III district semifinal at Warren G. Harding High School, the Indians will finally get their chance at a game they’ve been eyeing all season.
At 7 p.m. Friday, second-seeded Girard will face top-seeded Ursuline for the district championship in a rematch of last season’s title game that went to the Irish.
“We’ve had our eyes on this game for a while with all the seniors [seven] we have,” Indians coach Craig Hannon said. “It’s a challenge, but we’re walking in here wanting to win. This group’s fully ready to do that, so I’m excited and the kids are, too.”
First though, Girard (19-5) had to get by sixth-seeded Rootstown (15-10).
The Indians did so by taking a 12-2 lead after the first quarter as they held the Rovers missed their first 14 shots. Girard then took a 23-7 halftime lead and never looked back.
“They struggled a little bit, but I think it had to do a little bit with our defense,” said Dylan O’Hara, who paced the Indians with 23 points on 11-of-18 shooting. “We were fired up and we stayed composed the whole first half.
“I think we boxed out really well and limited them to one shot and that’s always big this time of year.”
Rootstown — which was paced by Conner Formick’s 17 points — cut the deficit to 11 points late in the third quarter, but got no closer.
“I think in the second half we matched their effort,” Rovers coach Steve Beshara said. “But in the first half, we were tentative offensively — settling for shots.
“I think we just relaxed in the third and got up and guarded. We got it to 11 and then gave up an easy basket on the inbounds and I think their experience took over.”
Rootstown, which shot just 10-of-41 from the field, outscored the Indians 17-14 in the third quarter before Girard bounced back with a 16-9 fourth quarter.
“I thought we got frustrated and got a little selfish offensively more than anything else [in the third quarter],” Hannon said. “But we knew they were gonna make a run. I just felt we found a way and found our composure in the fourth quarter.”
DeOnte Brown added 10 points for the Indians, while Christian Bello scored seven.
Girard fell to Ursuline, 73-63, in last season’s district final at Howland High. O’Hara believes the veteran Indians can draw from that defeat on Friday.
“It gives experience for everyone,” O’Hara said. “That was our first time there, so I think this time around we’ll be a little more composed and definitely that experience will help.”