If you like defense there was plenty of it…Loramie’s Avery Brandewie stuffs the shot attempt of Russia’s Roni Poling in the first quarter. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Julie Wright and Sonny Fulks)
It wasn’t decided until the final minute…stubborn effort by underdog Russia gives Fort Loramie more than expected…”We just weren’t in our game today”, said Carla Siegel…Loramie escapes with 33-29 semi-final win.
Vandalia, OH – The state’s #1-ranked Division IV team might have clutched their rosaries…muttered the Lord’s prayer…the 23rd Psalm…whatever spiritual leverage they could think of for the first thirty minutes of Thursday night’s Division IV regional semi-final game at the Student Activity Center at Butler High School.
The Fort Loramie Redskins were that close to being ousted from the state tournament journey by the unexpected Russia Raiders, a team that Loramie had beaten twice, and handily, during the regular season Shelby County League schedule.
But credit resilience, experience, and a gutty drive to the rim by Loramie’s Summer Hoying with 85 seconds remaining on the clock, hitting a short bank shot to give the Redskins a 31-29 lead, which they then supplemented at the free throw line in the final seconds to win, 33-29.
“Credit Russia and how they played,” said Loramie coach Carla Siegel. “I’m proud of the girls for not giving up and hanging their heads. Our shots just weren’t falling, and it’s hard to play when the little bunny shots aren’t going in.
How they play….Loramie’s defense harassed Russia’s offense to force 18 turnovers for the game.
“We did a terrible job of boxing out tonight. We didn’t turn them over as much as previous games because we had girls on the bench with foul trouble in the second quarter. We couldn’t be as aggressive as we wanted to play. You look at the myriad of things that we did wrong – the fouls, the missed shots, not boxing out, and you still come out with a win – you have to be happy that you get to practice the next day.”
It was not the kind of game one would have expected from Loramie…for the fact that while they did force 18 turnovers by a young Russia team that starts two freshmen, they weren’t able to capitalize on those miscues with easy transition buckets on the other end. That’s Loramie’s game, plain and simple. And when you least expect it they have enough perimeter shooting to add insult to injury. This is a team – a program – that’s been meticulously crafted over two decades and three state titles with Carla Siegel, and they’re as close as it comes to being dependable for one basketball fact: You don’t always make shots, but defense always plays.
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And then, this. Credit Russia, as Siegel did without hesitation, for being prepared to play – for motivation derived from a pair of embarrassing losses during the regular season from the team, if you’re a Russia fan, that you hate to lose to most…69-31 back on January 4, and 60-37 a month later on February 8th.
“I think we did some things to confuse them [tonight],” said Russia coach Mike Bashore. “I don’t want to give away what it was, but we matched up in our zone, played man sometimes, that seemed to confuse them in the first half. And to hold them to 33 points that speaks volumes. That’s amazing for us because they’re so athletic at every position. They’re really hard to beat.”
Avery Brandewie had her share of rejections…all ball here on Russia’s Addison Shappie.
It was physical, as you might expect. And for the first eight minutes Russia, and Claudia Hoenhe and Roni Poling, gave as good as they got, forcing the ball down low for high percentage shots that they made. Not a lot of them, but enough to creep out to a 13-6 lead by the end of the quarter.
Siegel mentioned the ‘bunnies’, those point-blank shots at the rim that don’t go in? To the extreme, Loramie could not have fit the ball in the hoop with a shoe horn…so many shots that simply refused to fall. For that fact alone she later admitted, “I told the girls we were fortunate.” In her words, yes, it’s hard to play when the bunnies don’t go in.
But miraculously, they didn’t give in or get discouraged. Through timeouts and stoppage of play, they simply made eye contact, shared words of encouragement, and drew from previous tournament hardships at Butler High School…two years ago when they suffered through another shooting drought before losing to Cincinnati Country Day. They only scored 8 points in the second quarter, but owing to their determined effort on defense, they gave up just 6 to Russia, and trailed by just five points at the half, 20-15.
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Roni Poling would end up scoring just 10 points, a team-high for Russia, but her impact at the rim as a defender and rebounder was a thorn in Loramie’s side. She matched up physically, blocked shots, changed others, and eventually made Loramie shooters hesitant to attack the rim. And of course when the rim shrinks, so, too, does the inclination to shoot from the perimeter. Loramie made just two three-pointers for the game, and didn’t try many, either.
But little by little the defense – it always travels – began to wear on Russia in the third quarter. And when Jaden Rose hit on a drive to the rim at the buzzer to end the quarter, it game Loramie a 23-22 lead to start the fourth…and a second wind!
Russia’s Roni Poling gets bent over backwards, but scores her only basket of the fourth quarter.
It wasn’t much, but compared to the first half the start of the fourth seemed like a flurry of traded baskets as the two teams swapped the lead back and forth for the first four minutes. Roni Poling hit a pair of foul shots at the 3:31 mark to give Russia a 28-26 lead; but freshman Maddie Shatto surprised the 2,000 looking on with a wing three-pointer immediately after to give Loramie a 29-28 advantage. And that shot seemed to lift the lid, if only a bit.
Russia’s Addie Shappie hit one of two free throws to tie the score at 29 with 3:00 remaining, and neither team would score again until the 1:15 mark. Enter Summer Hoying, who took the ball near the foul line extended, and drove it to the rim, hitting a short banker to give the Redskins a 31-29 lead. No one sensed it at the time, but Hoying’s shot turned out to be the game-winner.
“That was a huge possession and I’m very proud of Summer,” said Siegel, afterwards. “She’s worked on that move all year long, so it was good to see her shine at that moment.”
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The two teams then traded turnovers before Addison Shappie had a wide-open three from the corner with 15 seconds remaining. But her shot was short, Loramie claimed the rebound, and Hoying and Jaden rose each added a free throw to conclude the scoring, 33-29.
It came as no surprise…that no one on Loramie reached double figures. Avery Brandewie and Victoria Mescher each had 6 points, Maddie Shatto had 5, Skyler Albers and Mylee Shatto each had 4, and Jaden rose finished with 3 points.
Jaden Rose swipes the ball from a Russia player and hurries for the other end during the second half of Thursday’s regional semi-final game.
Roni Poling finished her career as the game’s high scorer, with 10, while Claudia Hoehne had 6, Faith York, Jaela Shappie and Addison Shappie each had 3, and Celeste Borchers and Hazel Francis had 2 points apiece.
For lack of a better explanation – Russia’s defense, shrinking rims, and even regional tournament nerves – it seemed at times that the two teams became so obsessed with the denying the other points that they lost the focus necessary to execute an offense and score themselves.
“We talked about that,” said Siegel, the last to leave the locker room and get on the bus back to Shelby County. “We were playing a little fast tonight because we wanted things to happen faster than they were. At every timeout we kept telling the girls…we have to reverse the floor on offense. Studies show that when you do that your percentage goes up because you get better shots. I thought we did a terrible job of making their defense work. We just weren’t in our game plan today.
“Maybe it was the stage, maybe it was the crowd…and you hold a team to 29 points in a regional semi-final game, those are the things that we love. I don’t know…” she took a deep breath and started for the door.
And Saturday…they’ll play Marion Local, who barely survived Mississinawa Valley earlier in the evening, another team that Loramie beat by 23 points just a month ago (53-30). But Siegel had little to say about Saturday and the regional final at that point.
She still had a lot on her mind about the regional semi-final.
Loramie’s Jaden Rose ices the game with a free throw in the final seconds.
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