Fort Loramie lands knock-out punch to Lehman
By Tim Langevin
Evidently, Fort Loramie recieved the memo regarding lack of perimeter play because guards Cody Albers and Justin Hoying responded with 34 points combined, including six three-pointers to lead the Redskins past Lehman 69-39 in boys non-league basketball action Thursday night.
“It was good to see us score from the outside,” Loramie coach Karl Ratermann confessed. “We need to keep it going. Keep doing the simple things. The guys looked way more confident with their shots.”
Lehman jumped out to a 5-0 lead with two free throws by Nick Cordonnier and a 3-point-play by Adam Freytag on a nifty spin move.
Then the three-balls started snowballing from the rafters. Hoying stroked one from the deep corner and seconds later, Albers connected from long range to provide Loramie with a 11-7 lead.
Freytag closed the gap with a three from the top of the key and then David Spearman nailed a long ball to knot the score 13-13.
Albers ended the quarter with yet, another three and the Redskins forged ahead 17-15. Both teams combined for five triples, three by Loramie and two from Lehman.
The second quarter Fort Loramie established its inside play as Joe Poeppelman scored two buckets inside the paint and Mark Frilling added another score with a strong drive along the baseline.
“Tonight, we did a much better job of securing the ball. Against Fairlawn last Friday we had 22 turnovers,” divulged Ratermann. “Our inside-outside game was good. Mark (Frilling) is such a presence on the floor. When he got the ball in the paint, 2-3 guys would collapse on him and then he kicked it out to the open man. Very unselfish.”
The Cavs kept it close. Spearman scored on a driving lay up off a steal and Cordonnier swished a fade-away 13-footer to slice the lead 26-20. But the Redskins sprinted to a mini 5-0 spurt to close out the half with a 31-20 margin.
Loramie started fast to open the second half with a potent 7-0 run to take a commanding 38-20 lead with 6:20 still remaining. The third quarter belonged to Frilling, scoring eight points and shutting down Lehman’s interior game with his defensive presence.
Ratermann said, “Frilling did a good job defensively. That was key. That and our ability to recognize when to push it up the floor and when not to. The kids played unselfish ball. That’s what is so fun about this team.”
The romp continued. Loramie outscored the Cavs 20-7 for a 51-27 lead. Chris Meyer was the spark off the bench with six points. The 6′ 5″ junior finished the game with 12 points.
Albers bombed two more threes for good measure in the final quarter. In all, the junior guard finished with 20 points, including 4-of-6 from behind the arc.
Hoying finished with 14 points. Frilling scored 13 points and Poeppelman contributed six.
Cordonnier was the only Cavalier in double figures with 10 points. Freytag, on the heels of a 31-point performance last week, was held in check most of the evening by Frilling, managed eight points.
Adam Lenz and Spearman each scored seven points for the Cavs.
Fort Loramie won the rebound battle 27-18 and shot a sizzling 58 per cent from the field.
Lehman turned the ball over 13 times and shot a dismal 32 per cent from the floor.
Fort Loramie improves to 12-6 and hosts SCL foe Houston this Friday, with an outside chance of claiming a co-title if Russia knocks off Anna and of course, Loramie wins.
Ratermann said: “Maybe with a little luck, that could happen. Let the chips fall where they may. We need to first, take care of Houston.”
He concluded, “I just want to be ready to make a tournament run like last year.”
Lehman falls to 12-7 and the loss snaps a four game win streak. The Cavs travel to St. Mary’s Saturday.
Side Note: The Lehman gym had notable coaches scouting this game. Kind of like a Who’s Who of coaching. There was Dan Hegemier from St. Mary’s, Paul Bremigan from Russia, John Willoughby from Houston, Brett Meyer from Botkins, and Roger Craft from Covington. In addition, scouts from Dayton Jefferson were present and said that Adreian Payne will undergo a MRI on his shoulder this Friday.
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