July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Out of reach (03/06/2009)
FRHS girls basketball
Out of reach (03/06/2009)
By By RAY COONEY-
VAN WERT, Ohio - The district semifinal game could not have started out much better for Fort Recovery. And it couldn't have ended in a much more heart-breaking fashion.
The Indians led 17-3 in the opening quarter against the Division IV St. John's Blue Jays and were up by as many as nine in the fourth only to lose 48-46 on a Victoria Recker lay-up with six seconds left.
"It was just two great teams out of a great league battling," said St. John's coach Dan Grothouse, whose team shared the Midwest Athletic Conference title with New Bremen. "That's just what happens on Thursday nights when we play in our league.
"I couldn't say enough in (the locker room) to our kids about how we weathered the storm. We came out, we knew the emotion was going to be high for Fort Recovery because we had beaten them down at their place a couple weeks ago. We knew they were going to come out with fire in their eye, which they did. ... Our kids ... did a great job hanging in there."
After an incredible start and a big lead still standing in the fourth quarter, the Tribe was staring at a three-point deficit with 44 seconds left. But Co-MAC Player of the Year Joanna Snyder wouldn't let her team fall. The senior buried a step-back 3-pointer from the top of the key, tying the score at 46 with just 33 seconds to go.
Following a time-out with 14.7 seconds left, Victoria Recker of the Blue Jays took the in-bound pass. She passed to teammate Zefiryn Bryan before getting the ball back, driving down the left side of the lane past Emily May and a lay-up to put St. John's ahead.
Fort Recovery coach Doug Bihn called timeout with 4.5 seconds left, setting up the final play. Snyder tried to find a couple of teammates for long passes, but instead had to throw short to Nicole Dilworth. She passed ahead to Chelsea Leuthold, who found junior Nicole Pottkotter on the left wing. Pottkotter was able to get a shot off from just inside the 3-point line over defender Becca Saine, but it went a bit long as time expired.
"We had two kids coming down the side, Kendra (Brunswick) and Nicole (Pottkotter)," said Bihn. "We thought one would get free and get open.
"We got a look. That's all you can ask for. ... From my vantage point it looked like it was going in."
Fort Recovery looked primed for victory, leading by nine after Snyder's driving lay-up to start the final quarter. But the next two minutes belonged to the Blue Jay's
Becca Saine hit a 3-pointer to close the gap to six, and Bryan converted a one-and-one opportunity as St. John's got into the bonus with more than six minutes left in the game.
Another hoop by Bryan pulled the Blue Jays to within two, and another Saine 3-pointer gave them their first lead of the game with 5:14 to go.
The Indians bounced back for leads of 39-38 and 41-40 before another pair of Bryan free throws put St. John's ahead. Fort Recovery's Nicole Dilworth missed the front end of a one-and-one chance, and St. John's took advantage as Brittany Miller made her only basketball of the game - a 3-pointer from the right corner for a four-point lead.
Snyder's 3-pointer eventually tied the game before Recker's lay-up proved to be the game-winner. Recker was the hero of the first meeting between the two teams as she scored 20 points in a 62-55 win, but the senior had just three points Thursday before hitting the big lay-up.
"That's what seniors do," said Grothouse. "She came up and hit the big bucket to give us the lead. I think Brittany Miller hit a big three there late in the game to extend that lead. ... They just did a great job. I can't be any prouder of a group of kids."
St. John's (20-3) will take on the top-ranked and undefeated Crestview Knights for the district title Saturday at Van Wert at 7 p.m. Crestview (22-0), which beat the Blue Jays 42-21 during the regular season, topped No. 3 New Bremen 47-36 in Thursday's second district semifinal game.
Bryan, who shared the MAC Player of the Year Award with Snyder, racked up game highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Lindsy Reindel added 13 points and five rebounds, and Recker had four assists.
Fort Recovery got off to a hot start, hitting each of its first five field-goal attempts to build an 11-1 lead while St. John's went 0-for-5 with two turnovers. It pushed to a 17-3 advantage with just under two minutes to play in the first quarter.
The Indians shot 8-of-12 in the opening period while forcing four St. John's turnovers.
"Fort Recovery did a great job," said Grothouse. "That's a good basketball team. We feel very fortunate that we were able to advance and beat them in this game. ... They were ready to play. They took away some of our strengths."
The Blue Jays hit the final two baskets of the first quarter, but the Tribe pushed back ahead by 14 in the second quarter and still led 27-18 at halftime. The pendulum continued to slowly swing back in St. John's direction in the third quarter as they pulled to within three by holding FRHS scoreless for the first 4:29 of the second half.
Still, the Indians led by seven at the close of the third quarter thanks to a Dilworth 3-pointer off of a Pottkotter assist and pushed ahead by nine on Snyder's lay-up.
"The girls came out ready to play and played a great game," said Bihn. "Defensively we did a nice job. We had a great first half.
"The difference in the ball game was probably we turned the ball over too much late."
Fort Recovery gave the ball away six times in the third quarter and 11 in the second half overall. The Blue Jays had just five second-half turnovers.
The Indians were also hit by foul trouble as Leuthold and Koesters each picked up two in the first quarter. Snyder got her second with 4:05 left in the second quarter.
St. John's outscored the tribe 12-6 at the foul line as it racked up 11 more free-throw attempts.
"It's hard to play with the same mentality," said Bihn of the foul trouble. "They've got to be cautious. The way we play defense, that's not the style we play. We get up in your face and we want to put pressure on the ball. If you take that away, it's hard."
Snyder was the lone Indian in double figures as she finished with 11 points and four assist. Koesters scored six points, Pottkotter had five points and four assists and Dilworth totaled five points and four rebounds.
Fort Recovery finished the year at 16-6, finishing second in the MAC. The Indians won their third sectional in the last four seasons.
"(It was) a great season. We had six great seniors," said Bihn. "I just told these kids in the locker room, my daughter's two and when she grows up I hope she has the character and values these kids have, because they're great kids."
[[In-content Ad]]
The Indians led 17-3 in the opening quarter against the Division IV St. John's Blue Jays and were up by as many as nine in the fourth only to lose 48-46 on a Victoria Recker lay-up with six seconds left.
"It was just two great teams out of a great league battling," said St. John's coach Dan Grothouse, whose team shared the Midwest Athletic Conference title with New Bremen. "That's just what happens on Thursday nights when we play in our league.
"I couldn't say enough in (the locker room) to our kids about how we weathered the storm. We came out, we knew the emotion was going to be high for Fort Recovery because we had beaten them down at their place a couple weeks ago. We knew they were going to come out with fire in their eye, which they did. ... Our kids ... did a great job hanging in there."
After an incredible start and a big lead still standing in the fourth quarter, the Tribe was staring at a three-point deficit with 44 seconds left. But Co-MAC Player of the Year Joanna Snyder wouldn't let her team fall. The senior buried a step-back 3-pointer from the top of the key, tying the score at 46 with just 33 seconds to go.
Following a time-out with 14.7 seconds left, Victoria Recker of the Blue Jays took the in-bound pass. She passed to teammate Zefiryn Bryan before getting the ball back, driving down the left side of the lane past Emily May and a lay-up to put St. John's ahead.
Fort Recovery coach Doug Bihn called timeout with 4.5 seconds left, setting up the final play. Snyder tried to find a couple of teammates for long passes, but instead had to throw short to Nicole Dilworth. She passed ahead to Chelsea Leuthold, who found junior Nicole Pottkotter on the left wing. Pottkotter was able to get a shot off from just inside the 3-point line over defender Becca Saine, but it went a bit long as time expired.
"We had two kids coming down the side, Kendra (Brunswick) and Nicole (Pottkotter)," said Bihn. "We thought one would get free and get open.
"We got a look. That's all you can ask for. ... From my vantage point it looked like it was going in."
Fort Recovery looked primed for victory, leading by nine after Snyder's driving lay-up to start the final quarter. But the next two minutes belonged to the Blue Jay's
Becca Saine hit a 3-pointer to close the gap to six, and Bryan converted a one-and-one opportunity as St. John's got into the bonus with more than six minutes left in the game.
Another hoop by Bryan pulled the Blue Jays to within two, and another Saine 3-pointer gave them their first lead of the game with 5:14 to go.
The Indians bounced back for leads of 39-38 and 41-40 before another pair of Bryan free throws put St. John's ahead. Fort Recovery's Nicole Dilworth missed the front end of a one-and-one chance, and St. John's took advantage as Brittany Miller made her only basketball of the game - a 3-pointer from the right corner for a four-point lead.
Snyder's 3-pointer eventually tied the game before Recker's lay-up proved to be the game-winner. Recker was the hero of the first meeting between the two teams as she scored 20 points in a 62-55 win, but the senior had just three points Thursday before hitting the big lay-up.
"That's what seniors do," said Grothouse. "She came up and hit the big bucket to give us the lead. I think Brittany Miller hit a big three there late in the game to extend that lead. ... They just did a great job. I can't be any prouder of a group of kids."
St. John's (20-3) will take on the top-ranked and undefeated Crestview Knights for the district title Saturday at Van Wert at 7 p.m. Crestview (22-0), which beat the Blue Jays 42-21 during the regular season, topped No. 3 New Bremen 47-36 in Thursday's second district semifinal game.
Bryan, who shared the MAC Player of the Year Award with Snyder, racked up game highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Lindsy Reindel added 13 points and five rebounds, and Recker had four assists.
Fort Recovery got off to a hot start, hitting each of its first five field-goal attempts to build an 11-1 lead while St. John's went 0-for-5 with two turnovers. It pushed to a 17-3 advantage with just under two minutes to play in the first quarter.
The Indians shot 8-of-12 in the opening period while forcing four St. John's turnovers.
"Fort Recovery did a great job," said Grothouse. "That's a good basketball team. We feel very fortunate that we were able to advance and beat them in this game. ... They were ready to play. They took away some of our strengths."
The Blue Jays hit the final two baskets of the first quarter, but the Tribe pushed back ahead by 14 in the second quarter and still led 27-18 at halftime. The pendulum continued to slowly swing back in St. John's direction in the third quarter as they pulled to within three by holding FRHS scoreless for the first 4:29 of the second half.
Still, the Indians led by seven at the close of the third quarter thanks to a Dilworth 3-pointer off of a Pottkotter assist and pushed ahead by nine on Snyder's lay-up.
"The girls came out ready to play and played a great game," said Bihn. "Defensively we did a nice job. We had a great first half.
"The difference in the ball game was probably we turned the ball over too much late."
Fort Recovery gave the ball away six times in the third quarter and 11 in the second half overall. The Blue Jays had just five second-half turnovers.
The Indians were also hit by foul trouble as Leuthold and Koesters each picked up two in the first quarter. Snyder got her second with 4:05 left in the second quarter.
St. John's outscored the tribe 12-6 at the foul line as it racked up 11 more free-throw attempts.
"It's hard to play with the same mentality," said Bihn of the foul trouble. "They've got to be cautious. The way we play defense, that's not the style we play. We get up in your face and we want to put pressure on the ball. If you take that away, it's hard."
Snyder was the lone Indian in double figures as she finished with 11 points and four assist. Koesters scored six points, Pottkotter had five points and four assists and Dilworth totaled five points and four rebounds.
Fort Recovery finished the year at 16-6, finishing second in the MAC. The Indians won their third sectional in the last four seasons.
"(It was) a great season. We had six great seniors," said Bihn. "I just told these kids in the locker room, my daughter's two and when she grows up I hope she has the character and values these kids have, because they're great kids."
[[In-content Ad]]
Top Stories
9/11 NEVER FORGET Mobile Exhibit
Chartwells marketing
September 17, 2024 7:36 a.m.
Events
250 X 250 AD