Devin Reese stellar as Streetsboro sprints past Ravenna

RAVENNA — Devin Reese twice drained 3-pointers when the Ravens drew close early.

The Rockets senior dropped bounce pass after bounce pass off for his teammates to finish fast breaks.

In the fourth quarter, even with Streetsboro holding a decisive lead, Reese continued to exert himself on defense, for a block and a steal.

By the time the senior headed to the bench, Rockets coach Nick Marcini was ready to erupt, risking a hand injury with a forceful high five.

Reese finished an assist shy of a double-double with 20 points and nine helpers to lead Streetsboro to a 68-40 victory over host Ravenna at James L. Coll Gymnasium Tuesday night.

"It's senior season," Reese said. "So I've got to go hard. It's just the last season, so he expects everything out of me."

Devin Reese, abundance of assists lift Streetsboro

Long before the Rockets (2-0, 2-0 Metro Athletic Conference) wielded a large lead, a pass-first guard showed a beautiful shot.

After Ravens junior Pavel Henderson drew his team within 9-7 with a finger roll as he spun into the paint, Reese responded with a 3-pointer.

"We really don't have [as many] shooters this year, so I got to just pull it and hope it goes in," Reese said. "I'm really not a shooter like that, but I'm trying to get there."

Early in the second stanza, after Maykai O'Neal drew Ravenna within two (16-14) again with back-to-back layups, Reese ripped a shot from well beyond the center of the arc.

"He worked on it," Marcini said. "He worked on it all summer and you see the fruits of his labor."

Reese's second 3-pointer launched a 9-0 run for the Rockets, as junior Colby Benjamin poked the ball away for a steal with senior Bryce Vecchio tossing a fast-break heave to junior Bryan Nobles for a layup. Vecchio (13 points) added a crafty layup from the left tip of the paint and then took a pass from Reese for another layup and a 25-14 lead.

The Rockets led by at least seven the rest of the way, as Reese ran the break with the same mastery as the conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra.

Up 25-16, Reese found senior Gabe Gill on a backdoor cut for a layup.

Up 29-20, in the closing seconds of the first half, Reese whipped a pass to senior Airyman Singh, who had seven points Tuesday, for a fast-break layup.

In the opening seconds of the third quarter, off a Brevyn Nobles steal, Reese sent a pass to Vecchio, who swished a mid-range baseline jumper.

Senior forward Sam Abbuhl was yet another frequent recipient of strong Streetsboro passes, scoring 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field.

Reese wasn't the only facilitator.

Vecchio had a number of assists.

So did Brevyn Nobles playing the point.

All of which was a welcome change, per Marcini, after the assist-turnover ratio was a bit more on the negative side in last week's win over Cloverleaf.

"We got so many guys that can score the ball and Devin being as great a passer as he is and a pass-first guy and Bryce can pass the ball well and Brevyn is doing a great job at the point right now," Marcini said. "Brevyn don't even want to score half the time. You've got to yell at him to score."

Colby Benjamin sparks strong defensive effort from Streetsboro

Reese was one story Tuesday night.

The Streetsboro defense was another.

After limiting the Ravens to 10 points apiece in the opening two quarters, forcing 12 first-half turnovers, the Rockets limited the home team to six points in the third as they ran away with the game.

Perhaps most impressive, Streetsboro held one of the league's best players, Ravenna senior Eathan Cobbin, to five points on six shots. That was key going into the game as Marcini had studied the tape and watched how Cobbin led his team to victories over Newton Falls and Field.

Marcini entrusted Benjamin to lead the way against Cobbin and the junior delivered a superb performance, constantly looking to poke the ball away from Cobbin and deny passes to the Ravens' star.

"That was the game plan coming in, Colby playing tag with Cobbin," Marcini said. "If you look at their first two games, they're kind of tight with Newton Falls and Cobbin goes on basically a 12-0 run by himself and hits four straight threes and it's over. The same thing with Field. He's that guy. When he starts hitting shots for them, they start getting fired up."

Not that Benjamin was alone.

Brevyn Nobles, an unusually long guard, took advantage of that wingspan to wreak havoc up top, and tacking on Reese and Vecchio, the Rockets had no shortage of length to take away driving lanes.

With Streetsboro working to take Cobbin away, O'Neal led Ravenna with 12 points, on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, and Emmanuel Miller was strong on the glass (8 rebounds) with a number of slick finishes around the basket and mid-range jumpers to score 10 points.

Devin Reese delivers big finish

As the game went on, Reese only got better.

Up 35-25 late in the third quarter, he took a defensive rebound all the way down the floor, speeding in for a lefty layup, then minutes later, raced down the court again in transition and dropped a pass off to Singh for a layup.

As the Rockets turned a 10-point game midway through the third (35-25) into a 29-point game midway through the fourth (59-30) thanks to a 24-5 run, Reese caught fire.

Up 45-26, he found Benjamin on the break, then swished a baseline runner.

Up 55-30, he drained a shot from just inside the left wing, and then after a rare missed layup, stole the ball back from the Ravens, drew a foul and knocked down both free throws.

Forty seconds later, Reese refused to let Ravenna score on a seemingly routine bucket off a baseline inbound, leaping for the block and forcing a jump ball.

"He can go through the motions and still play well," Marcini said. "Tonight, he didn't fall into that kind of lull. He played hard the whole game and had a great game."

Soon after, he was pulled with Marcini greeting him with an emphatic high five.

Still, Reese wasn't patting himself on the back.

"I could do better," Reese said. "I had a great night, but I just feel like I could do better."

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Devin Reese stellar as Streetsboro basketball sprints past Ravenna