Rocky River is 5-0 against North Olmsted since December of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Wednesday. The Rocky River Pirates will be playing at home against the North Olmsted Eagles at 6:30 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
On Saturday, Rocky River was just a bucket shy of victory and fell 53-52 to Elyria Catholic. Rocky River has struggled against Elyria Catholic recently, as their contest on Saturday was their eighth consecutive lost matchup.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Ava Patti, who dropped a double-double on 24 points and 12 rebounds. That was a full 46.2% of Rocky River's points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Elizabeth Lang, who scored ten points along with four blocks.
North Olmsted suffered their closest loss yet this season on Saturday. They fell just short of Bay by a score of 42-39. North Olmsted has been going strong on the season, but this is now their second defeat in a row.
Like North Olmsted, they lost despite seeing results from several players. Mia Donald led the charge by dropping a double-double on 11 points and 11 rebounds. Donald has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last six times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Taylor Wengstrom, who scored nine points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Rocky River has traveled a rocky road recently, as they've lost three of their last four contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-6 record this season. As for North Olmsted, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 9-5.
Wednesday's matchup is shaping up to be a scrappy game: Rocky River have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 34.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like North Olmsted struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 38 rebounds per game. Given Rocky River's sizeable advantage in that area, North Olmsted will need to find a way to close that gap.
Rocky River took their victory against North Olmsted when the teams last played back in January of 2023 by a conclusive 44-22. Will Rocky River repeat their success, or does North Olmsted have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
