11-0 to end

CELINA, Ohio — The Indians only surrendered nine points over 13 minutes.

But as the Tribe started to turn the ball over in the final three minutes, the Bulldogs hit their offensive stride, creating a double-digit run.

The Fort Recovery High School girls basketball team gave up an 11-0 run to the Celina Bulldogs in Monday’s 37-33 loss.

“We kind of took a step back with where we were at earlier in the season,” said FRHS coach Tyler Deitsch. “The moment caught up to us and we weren’t able to execute was the big thing. … They all know the answer to every question of what we should be doing. It’s just a mental hurdle that we have to get over.

“Early on in the season we were able to put together some close wins. So, we’ve been there before, we’ll put in some work and change some things up and kind of get back there again.”

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Fort Recovery girls basketball at Celina (2/3/2025)

Turnovers played a key role in the Indians’ struggles. Fort Recovery (10-11) gave the ball up 10 times in the first quarter alone as the Bulldogs (10-11) built a 7-3 lead.

FRHS cleaned its offense up in the third quarter, giving the ball away four times to allow it a 15-10 run and claim a 1-point lead at the intermission. The Tribe only committed one turnover in the third, which directly led to a basket for Brinley Korte, but otherwise helped it hold Celina to just four points in the period.

After giving up just two made shots in the third quarter, Fort Recovery kept the Bulldogs from scoring from the field for the first four minutes of the fourth, as all three of their points came at the free throw line.

The Indians committed their first turnover of the fourth quarter on a Bridget Homan offensive foul. While it was a dead-ball turnover, Celina managed to hit its first field goal in over nine minutes on a baseline drive by Alex Kimmel from the left corner. Kimmel took contact from Homan on the play, but missed the free throw.

Karlie Niekamp grabbed the ball off the rim and found Homan up the floor as the Bulldogs started to apply pressure. The sophomore then found Madie Schoenlein streaking down the right lane line for the score, giving Fort Recovery a 33-26 advantage.

The Indians would never score again, coughing the ball up another three times while missing four shots.

“I mean, that’s the game at that point right?” Deitsch said about his team’s turnovers, while also taking responsibility for being late in making some adjustments. “It wasn’t something new they threw at us at the end of the game. It was the same thing all game long and we just let one bad thing turn into the next. We got frazzled and stopped executing.”

Celina’s first basket of the 11-0 run came from Brooke Baucher on a floater from the baseline. It then got back-to-back baskets off of steals in the back court as Korte and Rachel Rammel pulled CHS within a point.

Two possessions later, the Bulldogs took the lead after Baucher dropped off a pass for Kenlee Holstad for a triple in the right corner. Prior to the 3-pointer with 1:40 to go, Celina was only 2-for-19 (10.5%), while Holstad was 0-8 from the field and 0-5 from deep.

“It was huge, but it was not a shock at all,” said CHS coach Bret Baucher. “Kenlee has made big play after big play for us all year and been a great senior leader. She got an opportunity and took it and knocked it down.

“Once we got over that hump there, it gives you that confidence and you can play just a little bit harder.”

Baucher iced the game away by splitting a pair of free throws over the final minute, while the Bulldogs got two more stops on the defensive end.

Niekamp led all scorers with 14 points on 7-of-17 (41.2%) shooting. She also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

Alaina Vehorn’s nine points finished as the high mark for Celina.

Fort Recovery will close out the regular season on Thursday with a Midwest Athletic Conference matchup against Versailles, before getting a 9-day break leading into its sectional championship game against the 11th-seeded Triad.

“We’ve got work to do going into the tournament,” Deitsch said. “That’s the big takeaway. We haven’t accomplished everything and our girls know that. We have to keep our nose to the grindstone at the end of this long season. We still have work to do and have to dig in to meet the goals that we want. There’s still work to do.”