Cards clipped (03/02/07)

COLDWATER, Ohio - The Indians used a formula Thursday that is almost always succesful. They took away the opposition's strength, and exploited its weakness.

Division IV No. 6 Fort Recovery eliminated the New Bremen Cardinals' running game early, then torched their zone from the outside in a 58-48 district semifinal win at Coldwater.

The Tribe felt New Bremen (12-11) did most of its damage on the fast break in the regular-season meeting, which was tied deep into the fourth quarter before the Indians pulled away. They allowed the Cardinals no such opportunity Thursday, grabbing nine offensive rebounds - three each from seniors Tiff Gaerke, Holly Stein and Sara Fortkamp - in the first quarter alone.

Fort Recovery scored eight of its 10 first-quarter points on second-chance opportunities, and Gaerke finished the game with 13 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.

"We try to tell her that a missed shot is a pass to her," said FRHS coach Jeff Roessner. "So tonight she believed us and she went after it.

"Both teams did well on the offensive glass. I didn't think either one of us checked out particularly well."

New Bremen still managed a 13-12 lead early in the second period, but then the Indians found their range from long distance.

Vicki Roessner opened the barrage on an assist from Fortkamp, and Fortkamp buried a triple on the next possession off a pass from Stein. The Cardinals' Sara Sharp broke up the run with a long ball of her own, only to have Roessner dish to Stein for a third consecutive 3-pointer at the 4:08 mark of the second quarter.

A timeout by New Bremen did little to slow the Indians as Roessner took a Niekamp pass a minute later, drained her team's fourth straight bomb from the left wing and was fouled. She converted the rare four-point play to complete a 13-3 run for a 25-16 Tribe lead.

"They were in a zone and we got some chances to get some good looks," said Roessner. "The kids made the right pass to knock some down.

"I thought we would do a better job inside than we did. So, I have to give them credit ... they didn't give it to us. Somebody had to step up and make some shots outside and we were able to do that."

Roessner, who finished with a game-high 18 points, hit three 3-pointers, and Fortkamp (11 points) was good on her only two attempts from long distance. Stein (16 points) also hit a pair from downtown as Indians shot 7-of-15 (47 percent) overall from beyond the arc.

"We thought that when we played them a couple weeks ago we had our best success playing a zone," said New Bremen coach Dave McFeely. "So we came out and played the zone and it took them a while, but once they got the threes going we were in trouble."

The win gives the Indians a chance to be crowned champions at the Palace as they will play for the regional title at Coldwater Saturday against the New Knoxville Rangers at 7 p.m. New Knoxville earned its spot in the district finale with a 47-32 victory over Upper Scioto Valley in Thursday's second semifinal game.

The Indians handed New Knoxville its only two losses a year ago, the second in the sectional championship. But the Rangers (18-4) ended Fort Recovery's 11-game, season-opening winning streak to open this season by a 42-38 score Jan. 11.

The teams finished with identical 7-2 records in the Midwest Athletic Conference.

While New Bremen evened out the offensive boards over the course of the final three quarters, it was unable to run all the way back into the game after shooting just 35 percent before the break.

After trailing by 10 at the half and as many as 13 in the third quarter, the Cardinals used an 8-0 run to get within four at 36-32. But Fort Recovery responded with seven straight points to take control for good.

New Bremen was hurt by its 8-of-16 effort from the foul line while the Indians got perfect efforts from Stein, Roessner and Niekamp and shot 11-of-14 (79 percent).

"When we played over here against Coldwater we were 20-of-25 from the free-throw line," said McFeely. "When we played the sectional championship last Saturday we were 20-of-22, so we've been shooting pretty good. And tonight we just couldn't find the range."

Fort Recovery's three- and four-year starters accounted for 52 of its 58 points as Gaerke followed Roessner, Stein and Fortkamp with nine. Stein added eight rebounds and a team-high five assists.

Stephanie Winner led the Cardinals with 13 points and five rebounds, and Leann Topp totaled 11 points and six boards.

New Knoxville 47, Upper Scioto Valley 32

New Knoxville held an opponent to fewer than 40 points for the 16th time in 22 tries this year to earn its berth in the district championship.

The Rams brought a pair of career 1,000-point scorers into the game, but it did them little good as New Knoxville limited them to just 29 percent shooting from the field. They were 5-of-20 (25 percent) in the second half.

Alycia Niemeyer paced the Rangers, who have won eight in a row, as she finished 7-for-7 from the field and hit both of her free throws for 16 points. Nicole Wright added 11 points, and Brooke Niemeyer scored 10.

Wright, the MAC Player of the Year, also had game highs of 10 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals.

Ashley Butterman was the lone Ram in double figures, finishing with 11 points and six rebounds. Kayla Mullins added nine points and six boards.[[In-content Ad]]