FORT LORAMIE – Ottawa Glandorf snapped Fort Loramie’s 55 game home win streak on Saturday afternoon as they defeated the Redskins 53-48.
Skyler Albers opened the scoring for the Redskins with less than a minute gone in the first to give her squad a 2-0 lead for just seconds on the clock as the Titans do of Lily Haselman and Karsyn Erford pushed the guests in front 5-2 over a :32 span for a lead that would never be relinquished.
OG sophomore Kaelyn Grothause paced the blue and gold offense in the opening eight minutes of play with nine of her 12 points that included a triple with 2:40 to put the Titans ahead 16-10.
Fort Loramie’s second leading scorer Avery Brandewie kept her troops offense afloat in the first half and near the lead by connecting on five makes from the field and a pair of free throws. Ottawa Glandorf kept the Redskins at arms length on the scoreboard heading into the half as Grothause nailed her second triple of the contest to help the Titans amass a 27-21 advantage at the break.
Held to six points in the third period the Redskins were unable to cut into their deficit thanks to the OG trio of Myka Aldrich, Chloee Glenn, and Kaitlyn Kimmet who sent the lead as high as 39-27 on a triple by Kimmet just before the horn.
“We dug ourselves a huge hole at the end of the third quarter but I am happy with our fight” said Fort Loramie head coach Carla Siegel.
Both teams engaged in a battle of free throws as the contest tightened up over the last eight minutes of play with the hosts relying on Ava Turner and Victoria Mescher early to get within six with 3:37 to go.
Avery Brandewie who led all scorers with 17 points on the afternoon brought the scoreboard to 49-44 OG with 1:46 left but an 8 for 8 performance from the line by freshman guard Karsyn Erford sealed the victory for the Titans and snapped a two-game losing streak to Fort Loramie.
Fort Loramie (11-1) suffers their first loss of the season and sees their 55-game home win streak that stretches back to December of 2017 snapped and will next be in action on Tuesday at Botkins.
“What a wonderful atmosphere for todays game with two great programs going at it. We didn’t give up and battled to the end, this was a great game for us and a great learning experience to help us down the road” opined Siegel.
Ottawa Glandorf (11-2) has now won 7 straight games and will be back in action on Thursday night on the road at Bath. The Titans were led in scoring by the duo of Karsyn Erford and Kaelyn Grothause who each finished with 12.
“Early on Katie and Kaelyn did a good job being strong and aggressive on offense. Our defense was pretty solid but had a few breakdowns. Lily and Myka played very strong on defense and the whole team kind of played well in their role. Karsyn down the stretch helped to handle the pressure and got to the free throw line to help seal the deal” said Titans boss Troy Yant following the game.
Scoring:
OG (53):
Karsyn Erford 12
Lily Haselman 3
Kaelyn Grothause 12
Kaitlyn Kimmet 9
Katie Kaufman 8
Chloee Glenn 5
Myka Aldrich 4
FT: 11/17
3PT: 4 (Grothause 2, Haselman, Kimmet)
TO: 15
Fort Loramie (48):
Ava Turner 7
Carissa Meyer 2
Victoria Mescher 8
Skyler Albers 6
Alex Rose 2
Avery Brandewie 17
Summer Hoying 6
FT: 10/16
3PT: 0
TO: 20
JV: OG 30-26