Fort heads to district

A 42-point win brought the Indians their third straight sectional championship with relative ease.
However, if they are going to earn their first district crown in a decade, it is not going to come without a fight.
With a 19-2 record, Fort Recovery enters the Division III district tournament at Kalida with an impressive resume. But they are not the only one.
The Tinora Rams, the Indians’ semifinal opponent, are 20-2, and fellow district qualifier Evergreen is 19-2. The only of the four teams in the group with more than two losses on the year is Lima Central Catholic at 15-7.
“Every game we play from here on out is going to be physical, close and competitive,” said FRHS coach Doug Bihn, whose team will play Tinora Thursday at 8 p.m. “Depth has been a plus for us all season … so hopefully our depth will show up.”
Tinora will present a much different challenge than Parkway, a team the Indians beat 94-34 during the regular season and 79-37 in Saturday’s sectional championship game.
Senior Anna Steffel leads the Defiance school, which has won eight in a row, with averages of 13.6 points and 2.4 assists per game. She racked up 36 points to lead her Rams to a sectional title with a 60-57, double-overtime win over Patrick Henry.
The team also has a pair of solid post players, including senior Kendra McCann (12.1 points per game, 3.1 rebounds).
“She’s a big time player,” said Bihn of Steffel. “(Patrick Henry) played a box-and-1 on her all night long and she still had 36. Everything runs through her.
“We’re going to have to front the post and obviously pressure Stefell. I think really we’ve got better defenders than she’s seen all year. ... I think we’re going to have a fresh body on her all night long.”
Evergreen, located about 20 miles west of Toledo and less than a mile south of the Ohio-Michigan line, has won 10 straight and is the favorite in the other semifinal game.
Lauren Langenderfer, the daughter of Vikings coach John Langenderfer, powered the squad to its sectional championship with 18 points in a 47-43 win over Archbold.
The junior led the Northwest Ohio Athletic Conference with 20.8 points per game, and averaged a double-double with 10.4 rebounds.
“They’re not quite as deep or as talented as what Tinora is,” said Bihn of the Vikings, “but they’re real similar in what they do.
“Everything goes through (Langenderfer).”
Lima Central Catholic, which lost to Fort Recovery in the tournament last season, upset second-seeded Coldwater 58-52 behind 27 points from sophomore Stacia Allen to win its sectional crown.
Despite their impressive records, none of the teams in the tournament at Kalida finished among the top 10 in the final Associated Press poll of the regular season. Fort Recovery was the highest, finishing 12th in the voting.
However, in the Freeman Rankings posted at maxpreps.com, the Indians finished fourth behind only Oak Hill, Anna and Columbus Africentric. Tinora finished at 13th, Evergreen was 15th and LCC was 29th.
Fort Recovery has won 10 straight games, and its two losses this season came by a combined five points. It dropped the season opener by three to Memorial (St. Marys) when it was missing several players from the lineup, and fell by two to Division IV No. 5 Minster on a last-second shot.
Senior sisters Kendra Brunswick (12.9 ppg) and Holly Brunswick (12.1) lead the Indians in scoring, and classmate Olivia Thien adds another 9.6. Juniors Kylie Kahlig and Kelly Nietfeld each scored in double digits in the sectional championship victory, and senior Nicole Dilworth and junior Olivia Schwieterman have also reached double figures for the squad this year.
The Tribe has been deadly from long range this season, led by Kendra Brunswick with 42 3-pointers and more than 20 apiece from Holly Brunswick, Thien and Schwieterman.
“We have to limit our turnovers, we’ve got to take care of the basketball,” said Bihn of keys to his team’s success. “We have to rebound. That’s been a concern for us all season.
“I think if we can shoot the ball the way we can shoot the ball we’ll be ok.
“Those are the things we need to take care of.”
The Indians’ last district title came in 2001, when they finished as regional runners-up. They have 14 or more games in eight of the 10 seasons since, but have been unable to get over the district hurdle in the tournament.
Their district appearances in each of the last two seasons have ended in heartbreak.
In 2009 Fort Recovery built a 14-point lead in the first quarter only to fall 48-46 to St. John’s on a lay-up with just six seconds remaining. And last season, playing without senior captain Nicole Pottkotter, it had a one-point lead in the final minute before losing 56-55 to Archbold.
“We’ve been talking to the kids all year,” said Bihn, whose team has a chance to reach the 20-win mark for the first time since the 1991 state championship season. “We’ve been a good team the last two years, but it’s the little things that need to get cleaned up to be a great team. …
“The seniors I think are pretty focused. They’ve been through this before. I think they know what it takes to get it done. It would mean a ton to them.”[[In-content Ad]]