FR sidesteps ’Skins (01/20/06)

ST. HENRY, Ohio — People probably get sick of hearing the phrase, but it is oh so true: There is no such thing as an easy night in the MAC.

Fort Recovery was coming off a pair of games against state-ranked teams — one win and one loss. But the sub-.500 St. Henry Redskins were still no picnic.

The Indian girls basketball team had to overcome early foul trouble and a halftime deficit, finally putting their Midwest Athletic Conference rival away with a run of free throws in the final 44 seconds for a 59-52 win.

Led by an outstanding all-around game from center Tiff Gaerke — 18 points, 15 rebounds — solid bench play in the first half and veteran leadership in the second, Fort Recovery coach Jeff Roessner was thrilled to have his team leave St. Henry still in a virtual four-way tie for the Midwest Athletic Conference lead.

“I’m tickled to death that we got out of here,” said Roessner, who noted before the game that the Redskins size would be tough to contend with. “I don’t think we gave St. Henry the respect they deserved. You’ve got to give credit to (Redskin coach Charles Maier) because they ran the diamond-and-one on Holly (Stein) and really worked hard at taking her out of the game.”

While Stein, Fort Recovery’s leading scorer, was limited to five field goal attempts and four points, Gaerke dominated throughout.

The junior had six of her team’s first eight points, and grabbed 10 of her rebounds in the first half in which point guards Vicki Roessner and Sara Fortkamp each went to the bench with three personal fouls.

She helped the Indians stay within two at the half after trailing 6-0 early and 21-15 in the second quarter after giving up a 7-0 run.

She scored eight of her 10 second-half points in the third quarter, in which the Indians outscored St. Henry 16-7 to take the lead for good.

“She was dominant again tonight,” said Roessner of Gaerke, who has now grabbed double-digit rebounds in four straight games to lift her season average to 10.1. “She was quicker than what their post player was and she used her quickness to get some good looks underneath the basket. We ran a couple clear outs for her in the second half and those were really successful.”

Fort Recovery was up by as many as eight points in the final period, but St. Henry closed the gap with a 6-0 run which included a pair of hoops from Gail Hartings.

Still, the Redskins were never able to pull ahead.

They turned the ball over on each of their final two possessions and watched Stein, Vicki Roessner and Ciera Rammel go 7-of-8 from the foul line in the final minute to seal the Indian win.

“When we had to make the free throws we had the right people at the free-throw line,” said Roessner, whose team was 0-for-4 in the opening half and didn’t shoot a foul shot in the second before Stein buried a pair with 44 seconds to go. “That’s a big key to being successful.”

Fort Recovery, which finished 11th in this week’s Division IV AP poll voting, is now 10-2 overall and 3-1 in the MAC. New Knoxville, Versailles and Marion Local are all tied with the Indians for the MAC lead with one conference loss.

They leaned heavily on their bench in the first half after Roessner picked up her third personal foul with five minutes to go in the opening quarter. Fortkamp went to the bench with her third foul 29 seconds into the second period.

Sam Staugler came in for seven first-half points to help keep the Tribe close, and freshman Joanna Snyder picked up some of the defensive duties against St. Henry leading scorer Brenda Hemmelgarn.

“I’ve got to give Joanna a lot of credit for stepping in there and taking over in that first half,” said Roessner. “Sam came in and made some big buckets for us ... Without those we would have been in big-time trouble.

“You really have to give credit to our bench play in the first half. But then in the second half Vicki and Sara played with a lot of fouls for a large part of the game very, very smartly.”

The guard duo committed just one personal foul in the second half. Roessner scored 12 of her 14 points after the break, including four of the game-sealing free throws. She also had four assists.

Fortkamp was third on the team with nine points, adding two assists.

Ciera Rammel notched a team-high five assists.

Abby Niekamp had seven rebounds off the bench, teaming with Gaerke to lead Fort Recovery to a 32-26 advantage on the glass. She also had three assists.

Despite the lack of scoring, Roessner said Stein played a big role in slowing down Hemmelgarn in the second half.

After scoring 15 points in the opening half, Hemmelgarn finished the game with 22. She also had five rebounds and four assists.

But Hartings was the only other St. Henry played to get past five points, finishing with 13. She added six rebounds, and Brittany Post had a team-high eight points.

The Redskins were also hurt by 23 turnovers, compared to just 13 for Fort Recovery.

Junior varsity

Both offenses struggled mightily with the Indians falling short in a 26-25 loss to St. Henry.

Fort Recovery shot 23 percent for the game, scoring just three points in the opening quarter. The Redskins weren’t much better, falling behind thanks to a one-point second quarter as they shot 26 percent overall.

The Indians led by one with a quarter to play, but stumbled in the fourth. Brooke Mattingly led St. Henry to the win with six points, seven rebounds, four blocks and two steals.

Anne Koesters was the only player in double figures, leading Fort Recovery with 10 points and six rebounds. Jill Pottkotter had seven points and four boards.[[In-content Ad]]