Pigtails flying in formation, Fort Loramie bounds off the bench to celebrate the final seconds of its 42-29 Division IV state championship victory over Waterford (PressPros Feature Photos by Julie McMaken Wright).
Head coach Carla Siegel preaches that defense wins championships, and no one is about to argue with her after Fort Loramie proved her right once again in the Division IV final.
Dayton, OH – While it had undeniable elements of emotion and energy, determination and dedication, Fort Loramie’s 42-29 Division IV state championship victory over Watford on Saturday was also a matter of simple geometry.
Well, maybe not so simple for Waterford.
Fueled by its spidery defensive coverage in the first half and the offensive success that enabled, Fort Loramie exerted its length and width to unconquerable advantages of 26-4 in points off turnovers and 16-1 in fast-break points to steadily pull away.
“We told them today we were going to let them shine, let them excel,” Redskins coach Carla Siegel said of her pre-game message. “In the second quarter, we got some steals which helped to turn the tide for us, which was really nice.”
After turning it over six times in the first quarter, Waterford threw away eight more possessions in the second period and could not keep pace with the Loramie avalanche that resulted.
“Waterford is a great team, but I think our defense really rattled them,” said junior Victoria Mescher, whose seven steals were nearly half the Redskins’ team total of 16. “Coach Siegel said, ‘Trust what you’ve been doing all year. This is just another game.’
“I think that helped us relax and made us realize we just needed to stick with what we’ve been working on all year. We just had to do our job. I think we took care of that pretty well.”
Summer Hoying fought off the frustration of dealing with early foul problems and Waterford’s 6-4 Avery Wagner to come up big for the Redskins in the fourth quarter.
Waterford (24-4) hung with Loramie (28-2) briefly, thanks to junior wing Kendall Sury scoring all eight of her team’s points in the first quarter.
When Avery Smithberger hit a triple to start the second period and bring the Wildcats even, 11-11, it looked like Loramie might be in for another nail-biter like its four-point regional semifinal survival of Russia.
Instead, the Redskins didn’t allow Waterford to score again the remainder of the half and ran off a 9-0 burst to lead, 20-11 at the break.
“We saw that their guards were both 5-3,” Siegel said. “Our shortest guard is Jaden Rose at 5-6, so we thought we could cause some problems for them with our pressure.”
Waterford weathered 26 turnovers in its semi-final triumph over Loudonville, but head coach Jerry Close had no trouble explaining why his team’s mistakes were more punitive against Loramie.
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“Their pressure is good, but more than their pressure, it’s their length that hurt us,” Close said. “We don’t see a lot of that length and pressure…and that caused problems. We couldn’t get the ball where we needed to get it.
“We were turning it over out high. It wasn’t like we were turning it over in the post. We were turning it over out high because of that length. That’s what got us in trouble. Turnovers (like that) will kill you.”
Victoria Mescher’s five points helped the Redskins offensively, but her seven steals and defense on Waterford center Avery Wagner were even bigger, limiting Wagner to just three points.
Sixteen of Loramie’s 20 first-half points came off turnovers, and after Sury scored to start the second half, the Redskins came back for more.
Avery Brandewie used a nifty assist from Summer Hoying to convert a steal at the Waterford end into a 22-13 margin.
Then it was Hoying’s turn, getting free for a transition layup off a steal in the lane from Mescher and quick outlet to Rose.
Another turnover set the stage for a sharp back-cut from freshman Maddie Shatto, whose layup doubled the Loramie lead to 26-13.
Each Waterford mistake, and each accompanying Redskins’ conversion, amped a full-throated Loramie crowd even more.
You’d think the faithful would be accustomed to such dominance by Siegel’s teams now that it’s resulted in four state titles over the past 11 years, but remember…COVID and the silly cancellation of the 2020 tournament the day it was supposed to commence denied Loramie faithful a chance to follow their team to St. John Arena when overwhelmingly favored.
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And even though the Redskins took out their frustration on the field the following season at UD, only a smattering of fans were allowed in the building due to a fraidy-cat mentality that still reigned.
“I think they were equally hungry to watch these girls win a state title,” Siegel said of a Loramie contingent that dwarfed Waterford’s following in UD’s lower bowl. “I can’t say enough about them.
“…I do believe their energy – not just the student section, but the crowd, the massive crowd that we had today – helped these girls persevere. That energy is contagious. It’s awesome. It fires these girls up. So thank you Fort Loramie community for being there today. That was absolutely wonderful.”
So was Bradewie’s desperation three-pointer at the end of the third quarter, a shot forced by an expiring clock, one that banked in from the key.
Waterford had closed the deficit to 30-21 before that gut punch, but the Wildcats momentarily shook it off and bothered Loramie into a slow start to the fourth quarter with a mid-court zone trap.
It took Siegel two timeouts within 18 seconds on the same possession to get that straightened out. Hoying proved the beneficiary of the adjustment via the six points she scored off passes over Waterford’s extended defense.
Jaden Rose, whose five assists led the Redskins, has dreamed of being a Fort Loramie state champion since watching her sister do the same 11 years earlier.
Those baskets allowed the Redskins to empty the bench in the final minute, assured some long-held dreams would come true.
“I watched my sister growing up,” Rose said of the leading scorer on Loramie’s 2013 title team, her older sister, Darian. “I don’t even know how many basketball games I went to. I was in every single gym.
“…She was just my motivation and I saw how much fun she had out there. I saw her drive to win. When I was that young, I wanted to be like her. That made me destined to be like her and be a state champion one day.”
Brandewie, who scored 17 in both the semifinals and finals at UD to lead the Redskins, also drew on some long-held familial inspiration.
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“My sister had a big impact on me, too,” Brandewie said of Colleen, a three-point sniper on Loramie’s 2021 title-winner. “Watching in 2020, and having it taken away from her, and seeing how much she cared about the game, she was an amazing role model for me.”
Likewise, Brandewie’s father, Jeff, was a member of Fort Loramie’s 1993 boys state championship squad.
Avery Brandewie’s three-point field goal to end the third quarter steadied the Redskins and highlighted her team-high 17-point scoring effort.
“He never failed to go in with me on a Sunday,” Brandewie said of off-season workouts. “His back might have started hurting, but he never complained. He was always willing to do it for me.”
But the players on Siegel’s latest title team needed not have that inspiration at home, since it existed within the program ever since losing to eventual state champion Tri-Village in the regional finals last March.
“Because of what we did last year, and because we graduated one senior who played, we had all these girls coming back and so our expectations were high,” she said. “We expected to be here.
“But coming here is the first step. You play on this floor and everything changes. Nothing is ever guaranteed.”
No, it is not.
But, in this case, Loramie’s length made the math work out as exactly as the Redskins hoped.
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