July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Fort, Minster set to collide (02/18/05)
FRHS girls basketball
By By RAY COONEY-
To be the champ, you’ve got to beat the champ. That couldn’t be more true than in the New Bremen sectional.
Fort Recovery faces that test again this year as it goes to battle in championship action at the Division IV girls basketball sectional at New Bremen. To win the crown it will need to beat more than just a defending sectional champion. The Indians take on the defending state champion No. 9 Minster Wildcats (16-4) Saturday at 6:15 p.m.
“One thing is for sure, we play enough good teams throughout the year,” said Fort Recovery coach Jeff Roessner of the challenge of the tournament this season. “We’ve played four or five teams that have been ranked at some point throughout the year. We know what it’s going to be like.”
This is not new territory for the Indians, who faced the same fate in last year’s title game. They took a 15-6 record into the championship contest only to fall 50-45 to second-ranked defending state champion Marion Local.
The Tribe is also prepared for big games by its participation in the always powerful Midwest Athletic Conference in which it finished third behind No. 2 Marion Local (20-0) and Minster for the second straight season this year. The MAC has accounted for each of the last three Division IV girls basketball state championships — Delphos St. Johns won it in 2002 — and nine girls basketball titles in the last 18 years.
Minster and Marion Local are favorites to add to that total this year. The four losses for the Wildcats, who lost in double overtime to the Flyers two weeks ago, all came against teams ranked in the top six in the state. Those squads — Chaminade-Julienne, Marion Local, Fort Loramie and Ottoville — went a combined 74-6 this year.
Still, Minster coach Nann Stechschulte is doing anything but overlooking the Indians, even though her team won the regular-season meeting 53-36.
“They’re very dangerous,” she said. “They’ve got two league losses, one was to Marion, one was to us. They’re sitting third in the league and they’d be first in a lot of leagues. ...
“The first time around doesn’t even count. I’m not even thinking about the first time around.”
In that Dec. 12 meeting Fort Recovery, which has gone 12-2 since then and has won seven in a row, struggled to shoot the ball in the first half. They never got closer than five points after the break, and trailed by eight or more for the final 11 minutes of the contest.
Roessner said he has been working toward a rematch with Minster for several weeks and does plan to do some things differently this time around, both offensively and defensively. He said he knows his guards will have to be able to handle pressure and do a better job of getting to the basket Saturday.
Stechschulte said she doesn’t plan on “re-inventing the wheel.” She just wants her players to do the things that have made them the ninth-ranked team in Division IV — take care of the ball, play good defense and rebound.
“The first time we didn’t shoot the ball very well and we didn’t handle pressure very well,” said Roessner, whose squad hit for just 19 percent in the first half of that game. “I think those things kind of fit together. I think their defensive intensity was more than we can handle.
“The secret for us is going to be staying in the game in the first quarter. What you have to do when you play them is you can’t allow them to get on a run early.”
Minster, which is led by Karen Brackman in scoring (11.8 points per game), assists (65) and steals (58), has had a knack for jumping on teams early this season. It outscored its opponents by 137 points in the first half this season, and had a 10-point lead over the Indians in the first quarter the first time around.
Following Brackman for the Wildcats are Amy Kremer (10.5 ppg) and Danae Spieles (9.5 ppg). Kremer leads the team in rebounding at 5.2 per contest, while Spieles has hit a team-high 18 3-pointers. Kirby Boeke is second to Brackman with 50 assists, and Spieles has 47 assists and 49 steals.
Fort Recovery counters with a couple of double-digit scorers in sophomores Tiffany Gaerke (10.1) and Holly Stein (10.0). Gaerke and senior Krystal Rammel share the team high of 6.6 rebounds per game, while Stein pulls down 6.1 per contest.
Sophomore Vicki Roessner leads the Tribe with 80 assists, and Stein has 46. Stein, Roessner and Sara Fortkamp — who have 59, 57 and 52 steals respectively — give the Tribe a trio of pesky perimeter defenders, while Gaerke and Rammel have combined for 37 blocked shots.
It all adds up to what could be a tournament classic.
“We know it’s going to be a war,” said Stechschulte. “It’s a MAC game, and they’re going to be wanting to avenge their loss from earlier this year. We’re going to be fighting for our lives in the tournament.”[[In-content Ad]]
Fort Recovery faces that test again this year as it goes to battle in championship action at the Division IV girls basketball sectional at New Bremen. To win the crown it will need to beat more than just a defending sectional champion. The Indians take on the defending state champion No. 9 Minster Wildcats (16-4) Saturday at 6:15 p.m.
“One thing is for sure, we play enough good teams throughout the year,” said Fort Recovery coach Jeff Roessner of the challenge of the tournament this season. “We’ve played four or five teams that have been ranked at some point throughout the year. We know what it’s going to be like.”
This is not new territory for the Indians, who faced the same fate in last year’s title game. They took a 15-6 record into the championship contest only to fall 50-45 to second-ranked defending state champion Marion Local.
The Tribe is also prepared for big games by its participation in the always powerful Midwest Athletic Conference in which it finished third behind No. 2 Marion Local (20-0) and Minster for the second straight season this year. The MAC has accounted for each of the last three Division IV girls basketball state championships — Delphos St. Johns won it in 2002 — and nine girls basketball titles in the last 18 years.
Minster and Marion Local are favorites to add to that total this year. The four losses for the Wildcats, who lost in double overtime to the Flyers two weeks ago, all came against teams ranked in the top six in the state. Those squads — Chaminade-Julienne, Marion Local, Fort Loramie and Ottoville — went a combined 74-6 this year.
Still, Minster coach Nann Stechschulte is doing anything but overlooking the Indians, even though her team won the regular-season meeting 53-36.
“They’re very dangerous,” she said. “They’ve got two league losses, one was to Marion, one was to us. They’re sitting third in the league and they’d be first in a lot of leagues. ...
“The first time around doesn’t even count. I’m not even thinking about the first time around.”
In that Dec. 12 meeting Fort Recovery, which has gone 12-2 since then and has won seven in a row, struggled to shoot the ball in the first half. They never got closer than five points after the break, and trailed by eight or more for the final 11 minutes of the contest.
Roessner said he has been working toward a rematch with Minster for several weeks and does plan to do some things differently this time around, both offensively and defensively. He said he knows his guards will have to be able to handle pressure and do a better job of getting to the basket Saturday.
Stechschulte said she doesn’t plan on “re-inventing the wheel.” She just wants her players to do the things that have made them the ninth-ranked team in Division IV — take care of the ball, play good defense and rebound.
“The first time we didn’t shoot the ball very well and we didn’t handle pressure very well,” said Roessner, whose squad hit for just 19 percent in the first half of that game. “I think those things kind of fit together. I think their defensive intensity was more than we can handle.
“The secret for us is going to be staying in the game in the first quarter. What you have to do when you play them is you can’t allow them to get on a run early.”
Minster, which is led by Karen Brackman in scoring (11.8 points per game), assists (65) and steals (58), has had a knack for jumping on teams early this season. It outscored its opponents by 137 points in the first half this season, and had a 10-point lead over the Indians in the first quarter the first time around.
Following Brackman for the Wildcats are Amy Kremer (10.5 ppg) and Danae Spieles (9.5 ppg). Kremer leads the team in rebounding at 5.2 per contest, while Spieles has hit a team-high 18 3-pointers. Kirby Boeke is second to Brackman with 50 assists, and Spieles has 47 assists and 49 steals.
Fort Recovery counters with a couple of double-digit scorers in sophomores Tiffany Gaerke (10.1) and Holly Stein (10.0). Gaerke and senior Krystal Rammel share the team high of 6.6 rebounds per game, while Stein pulls down 6.1 per contest.
Sophomore Vicki Roessner leads the Tribe with 80 assists, and Stein has 46. Stein, Roessner and Sara Fortkamp — who have 59, 57 and 52 steals respectively — give the Tribe a trio of pesky perimeter defenders, while Gaerke and Rammel have combined for 37 blocked shots.
It all adds up to what could be a tournament classic.
“We know it’s going to be a war,” said Stechschulte. “It’s a MAC game, and they’re going to be wanting to avenge their loss from earlier this year. We’re going to be fighting for our lives in the tournament.”[[In-content Ad]]
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