FR shooting woes continue (12/17/04)

FORT RECOVERY — Eventually, the ball has got to go in the basket.

For the second straight game Thursday, Fort Recovery shot worse than 25 percent in the first half. It never got much offense going after halftime either as it lost to the defending state champion Minster Wildcats 53-36.

The Indians shot 19 percent in the first half Saturday against Wapakoneta and were down by 24 before getting close with a 24-8 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter. They were never down by as much against Minster, but the offense never kicked.

Fort Recovery trailed by eight to 12 points for much of the second half, and the Wildcats finally finished off the home team with an 8-0 run late in the fourth quarter.

Fort Recovery (4-4, 2-1 Midwest Athletic Conference) shot just under 30 percent for the game.

“We shot 76 times against Wapakoneta and they shot 41,” said Roessner of the shooting woes after watching his squad take eight more shots than the Wildcats Thursday and make four fewer. “We got outplayed and we got out-coached by a better team and a better program.”

Minster (6-1, 3-0 MAC) took its first loss of the season Saturday against Fort Loramie and came out ready to get back on the winning track. It scored the first six points of the game, and went up 17-7 on a hoop by Karen Brackman as time expired in the first quarter.

The Indians scored the first two hoops of the second half to pull within 24-19. However, they went scoreless for the next 3:21 as Minster ran off six consecutive points.

Roessner and the Tribe tried to put on a variety of defensive pressure looks, but none of them seemed to work as the Wildcat lead never slipped to fewer than eight points in the final 11 minutes.

“I expected them to come at us,” said Minster coach Nann Stechschulte. “I was proud of the way our girls responded from our loss Saturday. I thought we needed to attack, attack, attack. I thought from the outset we really pushed the ball.”

Danae Spieles paced the Wildcats with 16 points, and Amy Kremer was the beneficiary of a lot of those fast breaks as she finished with 14. Lisa Muhlenkamp went 4-of-5 from the field and finished with 12 points, and Karen Brackman also reached double figures with 10 points.

Kremer grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, and Spieles added six. Brackman notched four assists and a pair of blocks.

Tiff Gaerke scored nearly half of Fort Recovery’s points with 17, which came on an 8-of-12 effort from the field. She also had a double-double as she grabbed 12 rebounds, half of which came on the offensive end.

But, the rest of the Indians shot just 8-of-42 (19 percent). They had one possession in which they grabbed three offensive rebounds, but missed all four shots. They finished 0-of-10 from 3-point range and 4-of-10 from the free-throw line.

While crediting the Wildcats with great defense, Roessner said his team caused many of its own problems.

“Tonight it wasn’t what they did, but what we couldn’t do,” he said. “We didn’t bring enough fire and purpose to the game.”

Duo leads JV

Jill Pottkotter and Val Fortkamp each shot better than 50 percent as they led the Fort Recovery junior varsity team to a 40-26 win over Minster.

Fortkamp led the Tribe in scoring with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting. She also had three assists and three steals.

Pottkotter finished 5-of-7 from the field for the Indians, who shot 54 percent in the second half. She finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, leading the Tribe to a 27-19 advantage on the glass.

She also had three assists and two blocks.

The Indians led the entire way, building a 23-13 lead at halftime and keeping the lead throughout the hot-shooting second half.

Jodie Quinter paced the Wildcats with team highs of 10 points, four rebounds and four steals.[[In-content Ad]]