Bittersweet sectional

VAN WERT, Ohio - Sectional championships are generally cause for elated celebration.

And while there were some smiles as the Indians cut down the nets Saturday evening, there were also sympathetic hugs. Fort Recovery's tournament triumph came at a massive cost.

In the process of beating the Lima Central Catholic Thunderbirds 49-34 in the first of two Division III sectional championship games Saturday at Van Wert, the Tribe lost senior captain Nicole Pottkotter to a season-ending injury to her left knee.

"It's a nice win for us," said FRHS coach Doug Bihn, whose team beat Minster to win the sectional title last season. "Any time you win in the tournament it's a big win.

"(But) it's a costly win. You hate to see what happened happen ..."

The injury came in the final seconds of the third quarter as Pottkotter headed toward the basket on a fast break with Lexi Kingsbery defending. Pottkotter planted her left leg to go up for a lay-up and let out a scream as her knee gave way beneath her.

The senior, who leads the team in rebounds (119), steals (52), assists (48) and blocks (14), was helped off the court after a long official's time out.

LCC (8-14) closed a once 19-point deficit to 39-32 before Pottkotter, with what was preliminarily diagnosed as a torn ACL, returned to the bench on crutches and her left knee wrapped in ice with 4:21 left. Holly Brunswick then buried four free throws to kick off a 10-2 game-ending run for the Indians (15-5).

Brunswick and Chelsea Luethold, who led the Tribe with 24 points, each shot 8-of-8 from the foul line as free throws and rebounding carried the team to the victory.

"They're both great shooters," said Bihn. "We tell the kids all the time we have to get to the free throw line. It's just up to us to make them. They did tonight."

Coldwater topped Parkway 62-45 in the second sectional title game Saturday at Van Wert. The champions advance to the Napoleon district where Fort Recovery will play Archbold (20-2) in the second of two semifinal games Thursday at 8 p.m.

The Indians got off to a tremendous start Saturday, scoring the final 11 points of the opening quarter. Half of their 16 first-quarter points came at the foul line.

Leuthold continued the run, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers off assists from Nicole Dilworth and Pottkotter to push the advantage to 22-4 early in the second period.

"We came out on fire," said Bihn. "The kids played hard, played well early.

"We looked a little tired (in the second half). ... Hopefully we can play more of a complete ball game next time."

Fort Recovery led by 15 at halftime and scored the first four points after the break, but struggled mightily against the Thunderbirds' pressure defense in the second half. They turned the ball over 20 times in the final 16 minutes and 33 times total.

"We decided about the middle of the second quarter - our posts were getting in foul trouble anyway - to go without a post," said LCC coach Bill Talfinger. "We were getting killed so bad on the boards ... we just decided to press the heck out of them. We figured if they get a lay-up against the press, what's the difference between them getting an offensive rebound and a put-back. Our girls did some nice things there, and unfortunately your girls couldn't get enough baskets to get over the hump."

The Thunderbirds made the Tribe sweat, finishing the third quarter on a 9-0 run. They closed to within seven points as they held Fort Recovery to just one hoop, a Dilworth 3-pointer, during a 10-minute span of the second half.

But Brunswick's free throws extended the lead back to double digits, and LCC's only points in the final five minutes came on free throws from Danielle Taflinger (16 points, eight rebounds).

"We didn't handle the pressure very well tonight," said Bihn. "We thought all week that was probably what they were going to throw at us. I thought we'd handle it better than we did. We struggled with it tonight."

Along with the impressive free-throw shooting, Leuthold led the Indians to a dominating 53-16 advantage on the glass. She grabbed 13 boards and was followed by Pottkotter with nine, Dilworth (eight), Kendra Brunswick (six) and Holly Brunswick (five).

"When you're 8-14, you're going to have weaknesses," said Taflinger. "And one of our glaring weaknesses this year was rebounding. The stat sheets proved it every night. We would win games and get out-rebounded by 15 or 20 ... at times. That came back to bite us tonight."

Holly Brunswick joined Leuthold in double figures with 12 points, and Dilworth added seven. Pottkotter dished out four assists.[[In-content Ad]]