Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
FAYETTEVILLE — For the second consecutive season, the Fayetteville Rockets will finish the season at the peak of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference.
The Rockets (16-4, 11-1 SHAC) led for all but a single possession on Wednesday night. And after temporarily trailing, Fayetteville exploded on a 17-3 run over the final 5:38 to put away the pesky Whiteoak Wildcats and secure a SHAC division title by 58-45 final.
“It gives us our confidence back,” Fayetteville’s Cara Rummel said. “When we played them the first time, we were undefeated. So this gives us our confidence back. We just need to get on a roll in the first quarter because when we don’t do that, we struggle. I think if we get that down, we’ll be good.”
CREDIT: Raymond Gleadle/SOSA
By using a stingy and active defense, along with a balanced attack, the Rockets launched to a quick 9-2 lead over the Wildcats. That lead was sparked by five quick points from sophomore Aubrey Barber, who buried a triple to start the scoring and then scored on a run out to build the lead.
The Rockets forced six first quarter turnovers and it appeared that they’d run away. But Whiteoak refused to back down. Freshman Jillian Lucas went 3-of-4 at the free throw line before sophomore Charli Hauke splashed a deep 3 from the top of the key to cut the deficit to 14-10 after a quarter of play.
Fayetteville grabbed momentum back immediately when Ava Baker canned a triple to start the second quarter before a score from Cara Rummel quickly gave the Rockets their biggest lead of the early going. Christina Murphy and senior Ryley Kleemeyer added to the lead while they still played determined defense to slow the Whiteoak attack.
“It’s great. We’ve played together for so long, since like second grade, so we can read each other,” Rummel said. “We just work well together. Christina [Murphy] works so hard. She’s that main factor sometimes with the rebounding and with Ryley [Kleemeyer], they just get it and we go.”
Keeping the Wildcats (13-5, 10-3 SHAC) in the game were their two Addy’s, Hauke and Roberts, as they combined to score all nine of the team’s points in the second stanza.
The duo went a combined 4-for-4 at the free throw line before Roberts scored a tough interior basket. Whiteoak ran a fantastic action to get Hauke a look from 3 on the wing, where she matched her sister with a deep triple to end the half’s scoring and keep Whiteoak within 27-19 at the break.
PHOTOS: Images from Fayetteville’s win over Whiteoak
Throughout the third quarter, the Wildcats appeared to make runs, but the Rockets were always quick to provide an answer. Whiteoak’s Lucas and Roberts got going with the drive, while Barber, Murphy and Rummel responded at each turn. Fayetteville’s Scarlett Crawford got into the action to end the quarter at the free throw line, extending Fayetteville’s lead to 41-36 and bringing the Rockets to within eight minutes of a league title.
Down by five and with their hopes of a shared title dwindling, Whiteoak began to make its push to start the final quarter. Scores from Roberts in the midrange and Torie Potts inside made it a one-point deficit before Charli Hauke beat her defender with a left-handed drive and finish to give the Wildcats their first lead with 5:38 remaining.
That lead would only last 26 short seconds as the Rockets quickly responded. Rummel took a pass on the wing, drove and knocked down a runner with 5:12 to play to grab the lead right back for Fayetteville.
“In the moment, I think it felt pretty good,” Rummel said. “I think I knew what was going to happen because I saw my teammates and we kind of read each other pretty well. We know we’re going to pass and cut and we’re going to move off the ball. So that’s pretty much what we did. They just saw me. We practice it all the time.”
A long triple for the Wildcats resulted in a runout layup for Murphy with five minutes to play. Following another defensive stop, Murphy connected downcourt with a streaking Baker for a layup to force a timeout with 4:36 remaining.
“Being able to rotate off the bench, we have a deep bench and even our JV players come up and play well for us,” Rummel said. “Ava [Baker] and Autumn [Waddell] come in and give us great minutes. They understand what we’re doing. They’re key players for sure.”
As the lead stood at 49-45, the Wildcats were whistled for an intentional foul following a rebound, their second of the game on a rebound attempt. Murphy calmly stepped to the line for the Rockets and connected on both ends, before an inside score from Kleemeyer all but put the game away at 53-45 in the closing minutes.
The Rockets were then able to add on at the charity stripe, sealing the deal on a SHAC title win.
Fayetteville was led in scoring by a trio of sophomores. Rummel led the way with 15 points, Barber added 14 and Murphy tallied 11. Kleemeyer added eight points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
Whiteoak battled for 32 minutes, but unfortunately came up a little short. Roberts led the Wildcats with 11 points while Lucas added 10. Addy Hauke notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Wildcats close their regular season with a trio of home games against Hillsboro, Western and Zane Trace. Meanwhile, the Rockets have two games left, both home dates against Fairfield, on Thursday, and Greeneview, on Saturday.
BOX SCORE
Whiteoak: 10-9-17-9 — 45
Fayetteville: 14-13-14-17 — 58
Whiteoak: 15-42 FG, 4-17 3pt, 11-15 FT. Scoring: Roberts 11, A. Hauke 10, Lucas 10, C. Hauke 7, Potts 7.
Fayetteville: 21-44 FG, 7-19 3pt, 9-16 FT. Scoring: Rummel 15, Barber 14, Murphy 11, Kleemeyer 8, Baker 5, Crawford 5.
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