ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (Feb. 17, 2024) -- Rocky River leveraged strong two-way play over the middle quarters of a 62-44 triumph over John F. Kennedy Saturday night.

After falling behind 10-5 early, the Pirates (11-9) rallied in the non-conference battle with a 21-7 surge bridging the back end of the first quarter and the front half of the second. Freshman guard Danny Berg ignited the River run with a microwave dozen points over that stretch. Berg would go on to finish with 15 points and three assists.

The Sons of Blackbeard outscored Kennedy 34-20 over the second and third quarters. Rocky River was shooting over-50% for the game until a 35.3% figure in the fourth quarter tamped a game-final rate down to 48.1% (25-of-52). After a hot start, Eagle shooters cooled off. JFK shot under-30% in the second half and 37.3% (19-of-51) for the game.

River and Kennedy played to a 12-12 draw in the turnover count, but the Buccaneers worked their way to a 23-8 edge in points coming off those miscues. On the boards, the Maroon & White got solid work from Gio Lizzini, Jackson Paige, Julian Patti, Michael Swallow, and Hakeem Zayed. Their efforts lifted the Double-R to a plus-14 rebounding margin (36-22), and River logged a 17-4 advantage in second-chance points.

Berg, Jaden Charney (10P), Ryan Ricketti (8P), and Zayed (8P) were the Pirates' top scorers in a win that closed out a sweep of River's two-day double against Lincoln West and JFK. Zayed went 4-of-5 from the field and had seven assists.

Rocky River shot 51% (53-of-104) while scoring 133 points over the two  games on home hardwood. A Pirate offense that averaged just 46 points per game from Jan. 9-30 has averaged 56.2 PPG since.

Damarion Logan went 7-of-15 from the floor in knocking down 15P for the Eagles.

The contest marked the second of four straight home games to close out the regular season. That stretch will continue Tuesday with a 7 p.m. home game against the Buckeye Bucks.


by Skip Snow

# # # Pirates # # #