Fort Loramie basketball….pressure defense, turnovers, and easy buckets. It worked for a 53-30 win over Marion Local on Tuesday. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Fort Loramie closed out its regular season the same way it opened it, and played throughout. A thorough defensive thrashing of Marion Local yielded turnovers, points in transition, and a 53-30 win.
Fort Loramie, OH – For the true connoisseur of women’s basketball those who showed up on Senior Night Tuesday two watch a pair of the area’s Division IV heavyweights were witness to something that you seldom see.
In a game billed as an ‘Impact Game’, honoring respective community stalwarts Dan Thobe and Aaron Rose, both deceased, they saw a Marion Local team that just couldn’t get out of the huddle – a step slow, a count late, and…just off! And those three issues can cost you dearly in the space of eight minutes when you play Fort Loramie.
Because, Loramie (20-2) jumped on the Flyers with pressure defense, created turnovers, easy baskets and point-blank looks at the rim, and by the time eight minutes were up Marion trailed 16-2. Marion coach Beth Streib called a timeout, read the riot act, stomped her foot, exhorted, and used every trick in the book; but the Flyers (15-7) couldn’t make shots on offense, and were getting outrun trying to stop shots on defense. Loramie led 28-11 at halftime.
To their credit, Carla Siegel always has the Redskins ready to play another heavyweight – counts it as a learning and competitive experience that you cannot replicate in daily practice. When it was over, and Siegel and her team walked off with a 53-30 win, and she liked what she had seen…for the most part!
No caption necessary…it was a rough start for coach Beth Streib and Marion Local.
She saw junior Avery Brandewie ignite with the perimeter shot to score a game-high 19 points.
She saw the ball shared, and second and third shooting options score, as well. Jaden Rose snapped off a pair of three-pointers on her way to 10 points for the game, and in all, eight different Redskins scored.
She saw her trump card defense create double-digit turnovers, always the ace up her sleeve.
She saw double-digit points in transition, as a result of those turnovers.
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And, she saw her team rise to a challenge on the threshold of the lose-and-you’re-done tournament gauntlet.
“This late in the year it’s tough to keep your players engaged, and at the top of their game,” Siegel said, afterwards.
Points coming up…a steal, and you look down court for an open teammate. Loramie forced double-digits turnovers and had double-digit points off those turnovers.
She was, at 20-2, pleased with what she saw, which begged the question: After so many 20-win seasons, and three Division IV state titles, is she pleased enough with this 2024 Loramie team to bet on herself to win a fourth?
“Well,” Siegel smiled after taking time to consider her answer, “there are some things we could do better.
“But I thought we played as well as we could play in the first quarter. And then in the second and third quarters I thought we were the team that was flat – not taking care of the ball and too many turnovers. But overall it was a good night – Senior Night – and I have seven wonderful seniors, so there’s a lot to be happy about.
“Are we as good as we need to be going into the tournament? No, obviously.
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“But what I like about this team is their hunger, they want to win, they listen, they support each other, and with those characteristics we’ll get together tomorrow and talk about what we want to accomplish in the tournament. Our schedule is a grind, and when you get to this time of year it just starts to get routine and you try to find different things to do keep them engaged. Now we have a new focus, and I think that’s what this team is looking forward to. I think they understand the importance of playing better now for 32 minutes, and not just eight minutes here and there. They know how close there came last year – we lost on a last-second buzzer beater – so the hunger’s there and I think we can put together some solid games in the next few weeks.”
Victoria Mescher rises to knock down a shot during the second half of Loramie’s Tuesday win over Marion Local.
It has been questioned throughout the course of the season…how strong is women’s basketball across the state in Division IV? Siegel believes that for any falloff locally (if at all), the state as a whole is probably up a bit.
“You have teams like Newark Catholic making some noise, Crestview is very good this year. Berlin Hiland is always going to be there. Waterford is having a nice year, and you never count out a Mike Wiss team at Minster. Tri-Village, of course. So I think there may be some different teams, but it’s going to be a challenge, just like it always is.
And Marion Local…their first half Tuesday was an obvious aberration. At 15-7, and outside the top ten in the last poll, Marion’s ability to mimic Fort Loramie’s chaotic pace of play – defense, turnovers, and easy buckets – will come back to serve them well in their own district and region.
The trick is, of course, how to keep them engaged.
Tuesday night was a wakeup for the Flyers. Because, while they were down 28-11 in the first half…they only lost the second half by a margin of 25 to 19, or a pair of three-point shots.
Meaning, that while it’s said that it isn’t how you start, but how you finish, that only works when you start better…than 16 to 2!