SIDNEY – Fort Loramie opened up Saturday afternoon’s sectional semifinal tournament contest with an offensive flurry in the first minute and carried their tempo through the rest of the game as they defeated Mississinawa Valley 74-7.
Kenzie Hoelscher started the scoring barrage for the top ranked Redskins with just :30 gone in the contest with a layup that helped to put her squad on top 6-0 through the first minute of play.
Unfortunately for the Blackhawks the pressure defense utilized by their opponents would not relent as the Redskins turned eleven first quarter miscues into a 20-0 advantage with 3:15 remaining in the opening stanza.
The first Mississinawa Valley score came with 2:55 remaining before the first period horn on a shot that dropped from leading scorer Mattie Hiestand to cut the lead to 20-2. Brenna Price added a second basket for the Blackhawks with 1:13 to go to cut the lead to 20-4, but the Redskins again upped their advantage off of turnovers and finished the opening eight minutes with a 26-4 score in their favor.
Reigning Shelby County Athletic League Player of the Year Dana Rose accounted for 10 of her game high 20 points in the first period to lead the Redskins attack.
Ft. Loramie continued to flex their muscles in the second quarter as six players found their way into the scoring column led by junior Colleen Brandewie who stretched the lead to 39-4 with 3:17 before the halftime stoppage with her teams first three point goal.
Leading 45-4 at the halftime break Fort Loramie coach Carla Siegel remarked after the game “I was pleased with the 19 points we got off the bench in the first half.”
Using a running clock due to their big lead to open the second half the Redskins scoring slowed down to just 11 points, but the defense again held the Blackhawks without a basket for the second straight quarter on their way to a 56-4 lead after three.
Continuing to push the tempo with the starters mostly relegated to small minutes or to the bench, Fort Loramie was paced by a trio of players in Kenzie Hoelscher, Dana Rose, and Jadyn Puthoff with a pair of baskets from the field and a pair of three point goals from Alyson Schmitmeyer and Riley Heitkamp to put the finishing touches on their afternoon scoring.
With the clock running and down to 2:40 in the contest the Blackhawks got themselves on the board for the first time since Price’s basket at 1:13 in the first period on a triple by Taylor Stachler that ended a long spell of scoring for her squad.
“I thought our defense was locked in and made it hard for MV to get an open look at the basket today. We constantly stress “team offense and team defense” and it’s nice when we have contributions from many people throughout the game” said Siegel who picked up career win #459 with the victory.
Mississinawa Valley’s season comes to an end at 5-17 while the Redskins improve to 22-1 on the year and will be back in action on Thursday, February 18th at 8 P.M. battling Ansonia back at Sidney High School.
Taylor Stachler paced the Blackhawks with three points while Rose was joined in double figures by Kenzie Hoelscher (16), and Colleen Brandewie with 12.
Scoring:
Ft. Loramie (74):
Colleen Brandewie 12
Caitlyn Gasson 6
Riley Heitkamp 7
Corynn Heitkamp 2
Kenzie Hoelscher 16
Dana Rose 20
Jadyn Puthoff 4
Clara Gephart 2
Paige Eilerman 2
Alyson Schmitmeyer 5
3PT: 3 (Brandewie, R. Heitkamp, Schmitmeyer)
FT: 4/8
TO: 8
Mississinawa Valley (7):
Brenna Price 2
Taylor Stachler 3
Mattie Hiestand 2
3PT: 1 (T. Stachler)
FT: 0/0
TO: 44