Archbold tops Indians

NAPOLEON, Ohio - The lead changed hands 10 times in the fourth quarter Thursday, including four in the final two minutes. The Indians couldn't make it happen one last time.

Holly Brunswick had the ball knocked out of her hands in the final seconds as she drove to the basket seeking what could have been a game-winning basket. Archbold's Abbey Graber reeled the ball in as time expired.

The Tribe, without injured senior captain Nicole Pottkotter, pushed the Blue Streaks to the brink of just their third loss of the year, only to fall a hoop short in a 56-55 loss in its Division III girls basketball district semifinal game at Napoleon.

Pottkotter led the team in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks this season before suffering a torn ACL in her left knee in Saturday's sectional championship win over Lima Central Catholic.

"These kids have got so much to be proud of," said FRHS coach Doug Bihn. "Everyone of them on the floor, they just poured it on the line. I'm not disappointed. The effort was super. The outcome stinks, but they should be proud. They came to play tonight."

Fort Recovery (15-6) took the lead for the last time on a Chelsea Leuthold basket with 1:05 left on the clock, and got the ball back when the Blue Streaks were called for a charge with 46 seconds left. The Tribe took a timeout with 33 seconds on the clock, but turned the ball over eight seconds later.

The give-away set up the game-winning hoop as Graber passed to 6-foot-1-inch senior Hailey Galvan underneath the basket and she converted for a one-point lead with 20 seconds to play.

After a time-out with 14.2 seconds left, Kendra Brunswick inbounded the ball and Nicole Dilworth eventually passed to Holly Brunswick on the right side. She drove around Galvan, but junior guard Alicia Drewes came from near the top of the key to knock the ball away.

Bihn said he felt Brunswick was fouled on the final play.

"We made a lot of mistakes in front of that," added Bihn, whose team turned the ball over on each of its final two possessions. "We had some stuff that we could have cleaned up and it would have been a better situation for us.

"Its tough. It's tough when you lose a game by one."

Bihn said his team had three options on the final play - Kendra Brusnwick coming off a screen, Leuthold posting up and Holly Brunswick driving the baseline.

"I thought they were going to try to attack the basket and maybe draw a foul," said Blue Streaks coach Brian Ziegler, whose team is now 21-2. "We wanted to stay on the shooters and have Hailey stay in the middle and maybe block a shot.. ... I thought the girls did a great job that last possession."

Archbold advances to play Tinora (21-2), which defeated Coldwater 51-41 in Thursday's first semifinal game, in Saturday's district championship game. Tinora defeated the Blue Streaks 50-41 in December.

Fort Recovery grabbed control early Thursday, scoring the first six points. It led for the entire first half, although the Blue Streaks put together a 7-0 run to make it a one-point game at the break.

Archbold's first lead came with 4:08 to play in the third quarter in the midst of an 8-0 run. It pushed to a 43-39 advnatage at the close of the third quarter before the Indians scored the first seven points of the fourth to set up the back-and-forth finish.

Alyssa Schaub highlighted an impressive bench effort from the Blue Streaks as she scored a game-high 17 points.

"Alyssa Schaub is a starter in my mind, but she comes off the bench for us and just does a great job," Ziegler said, who played most of the game without senior forward Stacy Wyse because of foul trouble. "(Our bench) has been huge all year. It really keeps you fresh. I think in the fourth quarter it helped us."

Graber had 12 points and five rebounds, and Galvan finished with 12 points and a pair of blocks. Drewes dished out five assists.

Leuthold scored 12 points in the first quarter for the Indians, but was limited to just four the rest of the way. She also led the team with five rebounds and three assists.

"They tried to take her out of the ball game," said Bihn.

Kendra and Holly Brunswick each hit a pair of 3-pointers, scoring 15 and 14 points respectively.

Fort Recovery got into the double bonus in the first quarter, and scored 13 first-half points at the line. But it struggled to just 4-of-20 (20 percent) from the field in the second and third quarters.

Archbold shot 56 percent for the game, compared to 41 percent for the Tribe.[[In-content Ad]]