Fort falls just short (02/21/05)

NEW BREMEN, Ohio — If only points could be awarded for tenacity.

Fort Recovery could have been left for dead after the first six minutes, but wouldn’t allow it to happen. They clawed back from a 19-4 deficit, getting to within two points twice in the final period only to drop out of tournament action with a 51-46 loss to the Division IV No. 9 Minster Wildcats in one of two sectional championship games at New Bremen Saturday.

“You’ve got to give them credit,” said FRHS coach Jeff Roessner of his players. “They played hard. They were flying around ... I think Minster was glad to get out of this thing.

“The kids really battled hard. ... I think they did what they could do in this game.”

No. 2 Marion Local (21-0) dominated the other sectional title contest, pushing out to a 30-6 lead on the way to a 74-40 win over Spencerville. Minster and Marion Local advance to play in the Coldwater district Thursday.

Fort Recovery’s second half against the defending state champion Wildcats was a testament to the never-say-die spirit.

Despite still trailing by 12 at the half, the Indians never gave up. After going down 33-19, they held Minster scoreless for the final five minutes of the third quarter. They scored 11 straight points during the stretch, eight of which came from sophomore Tiffany Gaerke.

They pulled two within two on a Vicki Roessner layup early in the fourth quarter before the Wildcats smacked them down again.

Minster (17-4) went on a quick 6-0 run to push back ahead by eight, and a Kirby Boeke 3-pointer game them a 10-point lead with just 3:47 to play.

Not to be silenced, the Indians roared back as sophomores Holly Stein and Gaerke combined on a 9-2 run to cut the disadvantage to 46-43.

Again it looked bleak for Fort Recovery when Stein fouled out with 1:10 remaining, only to brighten again when Ciera Rammel hit a couple of free throws to pull within 47-45 with just over a minute to go.

But, that pesky two-point deficit was as close as the Indians would ever get. Danae Spieles and Karen Brackman each hit two free throws in the final 30 seconds to allow Minster to survive for the win.

“We played a good team,” said Wildcat coach Nann Stechschulte. “It was exactly the type of game that I thought it would be. They have a nice record, they’re very athletic.

“I didn’t think it would be pretty. We were fortunate enough to come out with a W.”

Fort Recovery had all kinds of problems early, turning the ball over four times in the first three-and-a-half minutes and allowing the Wildcats to hit four of its first six field goal tries. It trailed 11-4 by the time coach Jeff Roessner took a time-out just 3:26 into the game, and immediately turned the ball over again as Minster pushed to a 19-4 advantage.

But, after getting to within 12 points at the half, Gaerke led them back as she and the rest of the Indians went hard to the hoop. The effort lifted them to 47 percent from the field in the second half after hitting just 8-of-24 (33 percent) in the first half.

Gaerke finished with 19 points, hitting six of her eight field-goal attempts. She also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

Stein was second in both categories with 14 points and six rebounds.

“I think that was the difference,” said Roessner of his team’s aggressiveness in the second half. “In the second half of the game we attacked the basket with much more vigor than we did in the first half.”

“We kind of let them dictate what they wanted to do to us instead of us taking the game at them and attacking,” added Stechschulte. “We just spun our wheels.”

Spieles scored nine first-quarter points en route to leading Minster with 18. Brackman followed with 11 points, and Amy Kremer also reached double figures with 10. Kremer grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, and Brackman had three assists.[[In-content Ad]]