In harm’s way…Ottawa Glandorf seized on Loramie trying to dribble in traffic. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
The most anticipated game in western Ohio on Saturday, it turned out to be one long frustration for both Carla Siegel (above) and the Loramie fans. Ottawa-Glandorf came to town and clearly played like the better team, 51-41.
Fort Loramie, OH – When it was all said and done Fort Loramie coach Carla Siegel simply said, “I’m disappointed with how we handled this game.”
“I’m not angry,” she added. “Because we battled and the girls wanted to win.
“I just felt like we were stuck in a rut and unable to make changes. I asked them to change something at every timeout – do something different – and we were unable to do that.”
It was a significant opportunity for two undefeated teams in search of a challenge – a test – to determine just how good 11-0 Ottawa-Glandorf and 12-0 Fort Loramie were, respectively. Neither had been challenged over the course of the first two months of the season, and OG coach Troy Yant relates that for the Titans’ winning legacy, some schools will no longer schedule them. Yant and the Titans drove 65 miles Saturday for the challenge of playing Loramie.
Loramie is experiencing a bit of the same, the four-time state champion now having teams in higher divisions dropping contracts with the Redskins because of RPI considerations that come with playing a Division VII school. Such is contemporary basketball. Such is the wisdom of seven divisions…of everything!
To add irony to Saturday’s 51-41 Ottawa win, public address announcer Dave Ross welcomed the Putnam County visitors and a packed Loramie contingent by saying, “To be the best you’ve got to play the best.” And soon after the opening tip Siegel’s and Loramie’s frustration set in.
They had seen nothing the likes of Ottawa’s size and skill through their first twelve games. Not an excuse, you see, but just a fact. And the Titans immediately became the aggressor, did what Loramie usually does, and within eight minutes clearly had the Redskins off their game. And there were times during the game when the wheels were about to follow.
Outside of effort, a lot of things went wrong.
Avery Brandewie claimed the only three-point shot of the game, part of her team-high 18 points.
They shot just 24% for the half, and missed shot after shot from within six feet of the rim.
A physical game, they did get to the foul line! But they converted on just 3 of those 10 attempts for the half, 6 of 14 for the game!
They dribbled too much, constantly putting the ball in harm’s way of aggressive Ottawa pressure.
Turnovers, and points off those turnovers, became an issue.
Offensively, they had their opportunities, as OG, itself, failed to close out on open shooters. But one mid-range jump shot after another failed to draw iron.
Beat on the boards, they were inconsistent with their effort to box out.
You could have heard a pin drop amongst the expectant Loramie crowd. They were getting beat at their own game, as Ottawa-Glandorf was clearly the more ‘purposeful’ of the two teams playing to the challenge.
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And yet, with a laundry list of things that Siegel was begging to change…they trailed by just five points at halftime. OG led, 22-17. And all it would take to right the ship would be two good minutes of Fort Loramie basketball. But at best they got one, and one at a time.
They did play hard, to use Siegel’s words, coming out of the locker room. And they twice went on short two-bucket spurts that forced OG to call timeouts and ‘re-purpose’. It seemed to work, because the turnovers mounted, along with the frustration of a Loramie lineup that couldn’t get over the hump.
Ottawa Glandorf made a habit of getting inside the Redskins’ interior defense.
Ottawa-Glandorf increased its lead to 39-29 at the start of the fourth quarter, but still….! How many times had they witnessed the customary pressure and points off turnovers eviscerate an opponent in a matter of three possessions? But not here, and not now.
OG guard Karsyn Erford had continually beaten defenders off the dribble to score in the first half, a total of 14 points. In the second, it became her teammate Kaelyn Grothause, who didn’t score at all in the first half, but used the final twelve minutes of the game to streak to the rim and score 10 points. Every time that Loramie would make a mini-run, or hit their lone three-point shot (Avery Brandewie), Grothause and Erford would answer at the other end, maintaining their ten-point cushion for the eventual 51-41 win.
Led by Avery Brandewie’s 18 points, and Victoria Mescher’s 9, Fort Loramie dropped to 12-1, having shot just 36% from the field. In addition, just 6 of 14 from the foul line…43%.
Led by Karsyn Erford’s 18 points, and Kaelyn Grothause’s 10, Ottawa-Glandord improved to 12-0, shooting 45.5% from the field, and hitting 14 of 16 from the line…87.5%.
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End of the world? Hardly.
End of the season? Just the start, actually, as Siegel expressed confidence that the outcome, along with the example of how not to play against better competition, will be a valuable learning experience.
Victoria Mescher gets double-teamed by the Titans defense.
“I told the girls in the locker room…we’re a good team, but we’re not a great team,” Siegel said, afterwards, adding perspective to the moment. “I thought we were stuck in the rut of the things we do when we play a weaker team.”
“We have to take from this the things we have to do when we play a good team. We’ll learn from it.”
And just in time, as Loramie faces St. Henry next week (11-1), along with Lima Bath and Bellbrook in the next ten days – clearly a favorite in Division VII, but not a conceded favorite!
“No, there are good teams out there in Division VII,” added Siegel. “Waterford, Berlin Hiland…but a lot of them are not in our area. Ideally, you’d like to have someone closer than 65 miles.”
Such is the reality of seven divisions, where talent is top-heavy and more far-flung than before.
It’s true, as Dave Ross said. To be the best you have to play the best.
You just wonder if there’s enough to go around!
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