Tournament News: Fort Loramie girls rolling
By Tim Langevin
It’s that time. Crank it up a notch. Defensive stops more key than scoring runs. Team play trumps individual stats.
It’s that time. Freshmen expected to play like sophomores. Standouts expected to wear capes.
It’s that time. Frenetic February segues to March Madness. Coaching decisions and strategies mutate from checkers to chess.
It’s that time. No such thing as moral victories. Win or go home crying.
It’s tournament time sports rockers. And without further ado….
The Fort Loramie Lady Redskins continued its path of destruction, rocking opponents like a hurricane, gaining more momentum as it approaches Columbus.
Perhaps, not as poetic on the floor as previous 20-win teams, this storm relies on pressure defense and points off of turnovers, as evidence by the slam job on Houston 67-22 in the sectional finals Saturday afternoon at Sidney High School. Loramie won its first tournament game 92-16 over Fairlawn.
Shuffling 10-12 players in and out at a high frequency, Fort Loramie coach Carla Siegel looks for signs of “no oxygen” when subbing. She explained, “At times I saw fatigue out there. But we’re going to be ok. I play 8-9 players. I try to get the other team tired and then they start making mistakes.”
She added, “Basically, I know my team. I can see it in their face, in their step when they are gassed. I get them out so we can keep playing at a high level. My assistants help so we all know when the girls are tired. That’s when I sub.”
Fort Loramie opened the quarter with a 24-4 margin. Clair Ruhenkamp established her inside role with eight points. Janel Olberding and Brooke Turner each added four points and Tessa Benanzer and Kristen Zumburger each drained threes.
The halftime lead ballooned to 35-10. Five different Loramie players scored. Houston was stuck on four points for over seven minutes before Kristi Elliott halted the drought with a driving layup. During that span the Lady Wildcats went 0-for-10 from the field with eight turnovers.
Siegel said, “I was happy with our defensive pressure, especially in the first quarter. We made a few too many turnovers, but John Wooden always said that the harder and faster you play, the more mistakes you are going to make. And I don’t have a problem with that. When you run as hard as we do, you are going to make mistakes. I can handle it.”
The third quarter was the most productive for Houston, scoring 10 points. Bethany Reister led the scoring with six points and Elliott and Allison Roeth each added a basket. Reister finished the game with a team high 11 points.
The fourth quarter was a carbon copy of the first as Loramie outscored Houston 20-2. Macy Turner came off the bench to score five points, including a three to lead the assault. Reggi Brandewie added four points.
Ruhenkamp led all scorers with 14 points and Olberding and Brook Turner each tallied nine points.
What can one say about Ruhenkamp and Olberding? It seems like the two have been in the SCL for 10 seasons. What brilliant careers. Both have scored over 1,000 points. Both have made First Team All-County the past two seasons. And both have guided Fort Loramie to a 78-23 record the past four seasons, and still counting.
This tournament run will be their last “hooray” as they depart separate ways from basketball. Ruhenkamp will be playing volleyball for Saginaw Valley State and Olberding will be running track and cross country for Ohio State this Fall.
Switching gears. It was one and done for Russia. Lehman ousted the Raiders from the boys D-IV tournament 69-57 Friday night at Piqua High School.
It was a hotly-contested first half with the score knotted at 29-29. Nick Cordonnier paved the way for Lehman with seven points, scoring inside and outside. Colyn McEldowney forced the issue with dribble penetration, scoring 11 points for Russia.
Lehman coach Isaiah Williams made it short and sweet, “We executed well. We shot the ball well. We shared the basketball. Great ball pressure, especially in third quarter. And great contribution from all the starters.”
Mitch Knight opened the third period with a 15-footer to give Russia a short-lived lead 31-29. Alex Baker responded with a long-range two to tie, but then the Cavs delivered a 16-9 run to end the quarter with a 47-40 lead.
Tyler Steinke and Jon Slage led the surge with five points each and Cordonnier and Baker each added four.
Russia coach Paul Bremigan said, “We missed too many inside shots. They made the shots and we didn’t. We got off to a bad start in the third quarter. Too many turnovers.”
The final stanza started with a three for all. Levi Francis opened with a three from the corner for Russia. Baker responded with a three for Lehman. And then McEldowney joined the fray with a long-range three. Lehman led 52-46.
Steinke upped the lead 56-46 with a drive down the lane and then a steal for the layup. Steinke finished with a game high 18 points.
The highlight of the game was Slagle’s two-handed DUNK with 1:31 left in the contest. Not as thunderous as Marcus Crider’s DUNK against Sidney Thursday night, but still authoritative. Slagle scored 16 points on the night.
Bremigan said, “It has been an up and down season. We had a tough schedule. But the kids played hard. And we have had 13 winning seasons.”
McEldowney paced Russia with 15 points and Jacob Hoying added 12.
Baker finished with 14 points and Cordonnier tallied 13 points for the Cavs.
Lehman shot 53 percent from the field to 37 percent for Russia.
Another glaring stat, Russia turned the ball over 20 times to just eight for Lehman.
And so, as the tournament trail narrows, separating the pretenders from the contenders, who will be the last team standing? Stay tuned….
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