ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (Feb. 8, 2025) -- The Rocky River Pirates are co-champions of the Cleveland West Conference. On Saturday afternoon, Rocky River outscored North Olmsted 10-1 over the opening four minutes of play and effectively leveraged turnovers throughout, as the Pirates earned a wire-to-wire 48-29 win over the Eagles. The matinee triumph -- River's sixth win in as many games since Jan. 18 -- wrapped up the Buccaneers' conference slate. The Maroon & White finished with 13 wins in 14 league games; that ties RRHS with Westlake atop the circuit standings.
Rocky River (17-4, 13-1 CWC) used its game-opening surge to build a 14-5 lead by the end of the first period. The Raiders would lead by at least three possessions the rest of the way.
Turnovers loomed large, with Double-R defenders racking up 25 steals and the Pirates notching 25 points off turnovers for the game. Rocky River -- which had defeated the Eagles 46-34 in North Olmsted Jan. 4 -- won the game despite being outshout 36% to 31%. River registered a monster 58-33 advantage in field-goal attempts due to a plus-14 in turnover margin and the Pirates clocking 21 rebounds on the offensive glass. (The Pirates did have a shooting advantage for much of the game, though: their final numbers included a 1-for-12, benches-emptied fourth quarter.)
Sophomore guard Nora Bruder went 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and had game highs in points (16) and rebounds (nine). Bruder was one of four players for the co-league champs to file three-or-more steals in the contest. Junior guard Claudia Roche led the takeaway bunch with eight thefts. Roche (plus-25) and sophomore forward Elizabeth Lang (plus-24) were River's top two plus/minus performers. Lang finished with 13P and 7R. Sophomore guard Olivia Dewey had 11P and 5S while being tagged with just one turnover.
North Olmsted (7-14, 3-10) -- now 1-19 over its last 20 games against Rocky River -- got 7P, 5R, and 4S from freshman forward Amaya Capps.
A ball-hawking Buccaneer defense as now held three straight foes under 30 points.
"I am so incredibly proud of this group of young women for accomplishing one of our goals in winning the Cleveland West Conference," said coach Jamey Pfahl, who is now 52-19 (.732) in his two-plus seasons at RRHS. "Defense wins championships, and our relentless defense has been coming through for us."
Rocky River has allowed 38.5 points per game this winter. That's down from the Pirates yielding 41.4 PPG in 2023-24.
The Maroon & White -- who split two games with Westlake (15-7, 13-1) -- will close out their regular season and look to run their home-floor record to 9-1 with a Wednesday non-conference tilt against Lutheran West. Tip time is slated for 7 p.m.
by Skip Snow
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