Big Win for Rocket Ladies
Over Presidents
By Megan Harvey

An aggressive, pressing defense and a balanced scoring attack led the Rochester’s Rockets girls’ team to a 54-46 win over the Black River Presidents on December 20.

Rochester knew that this game was going to be a challenge facing Black River’s Courtney Rohrig, Megan Combatti and teammates. During the first quarter, the game was pretty even with a score of 13–11 with Rochester in the lead.

In second quarter, the Rockets found their groove. Rochester’s pressing defense forced a number of Black River turnovers that provided the opportunity for some fast breaks to the hoop. Sam Cutting controlled the floor with sharp passes and the ability to break Black River’s defense. Jody Martin added to the offensive intensity with her powerful low-post moves to the basket. The first half ended in Rochester’s favor, 26–17.

In the third, Black River came out strong with Combatti and Rohrig popping up shots from the outside. Rochester answered with some incredible drives to the basket by Sam Mishkit. Rochester continued to lead the game, with a score of 40–29 at the third quarter buzzer.

By the fourth quarter, the Presidents had switched to man-to-man defense to try to gain some control over Rochester’s offense. To maintain possession of the ball, Rochester employed an effective stall where Black River was forced to foul. Sam Mishkit led the Rockets with 17 points, 7 steals and 6 rebounds. Both Martin and Cutting put in 16 of their own points and both had 8 rebounds.

Rohrig led all scorers with 20 points.

Rochester’s game against Cabot on Friday was postponed due to weather. Their next game will be at home Saturday, Dec. 30 against Concord.

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