Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Fort Loramie’s Avery Brandewie drives as Jackson Center’s Macy Klopfenstein defends during a Division IV district semifinal on Monday at Sidney High School. Brandewie scored nine points and had six rebounds.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Fort Loramie’s Victoria Mescher drives as Jackson Center’s Presley Reese defends during a Division IV district semifinal on Monday at Sidney High School. Mescher scored 12 points in the second half to help the Redskins pull away to a 47-33 win.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Jackson Center’s McKinley Reichert and Fort Loramie’s Victoria Mescher collide during a Division IV district semifinal on Monday at Sidney High School.
SIDNEY — Fort Loramie has earned a district final berth each of the six years, and also earned district final berths every year from 2010 to 2017.
There haven’t been many close sectional games for the Redskins at Sidney High School in that time, including last year, when they won their first three postseason games by at least 40 points each.
Fort Loramie had to work against Shelby County Athletic League rival Jackson Center in a Division IV district semifinal on Monday. The Redskins pulled away in the second half to beat the Tigers 47-33 and earn a district final berth.
Fort Loramie was tied 8-8 with the Tigers in the first half. The squad scored the first nine points of the second quarter, but Jackson Center scored the last six points of the quarter to cut the gap to 17-14 at halftime.
The Redskins (23-2) got going offensively in the second half. Sophomore forward Victoria Mescher scored all her game-high 12 points in the half to help lead a 30-19 advantage.
“We knew they were going to come out and play aggressive,” Mescher said. “We knew that they wanted it really bad. We had to find that wanting in ourselves, and we had to clean up all our mistakes. We did that in the second half. Once we started playing together, like we know how to do, we kept going.”
Fort Loramie, which was the sectional’s No. 1 seed and was ranked No. 2 in the final Associated Press D-IV state poll, will face either Covington or Southeastern in a district final on Saturday at Troy High School. The Buccaneers and Trojans are scheduled to play in a semifinal on Wednesday at Versailles High School.
The Redskins beat Jackson Center 46-24 in the teams’ first SCAL matchup; the game was close early as Fort Loramie led 4-2 at the end of the first quarter before gradually pulling away.
The Redskins cruised to a 61-29 win over Jackson Center on Jan. 19 in Fort Loramie.
“Jackson can play great defense,” Fort Loramie coach Carla Siegel said. “They did a great job getting focused tonight and taking away our players.
“… A lot of players contributed tonight, which was good. We just have to do a better job at our halfcourt offense. We’ve got to have better passes and finish around the rim better.”
Fort Loramie committed a few turnovers late in the second quarter which contributed to Jackson Center being able to cut the gap to three points.
But Mescher hit 3-of-4 shots and made a pair of free throws in the third quarter, Alex Rose made two jumpers, Skyler Albers hit a 3 and Carissa Meyer hit one jumper to lead a 17-5 scoring edge.
Albers finished with nine points, as did Avery Brandewie. Brandewie, a sophomore forward, added six rebounds. Meyer had a team-high four steals.
Seigel said it was a good tune-up for the squad to face adversity before advancing deeper in postseason play.
“With districts coming up, that’s going to be a big game whoever we play, and then regionals are going to be tough,” Seigel said. “This is good for our girls. Hopefully it’s a reality check, and we go back in practice tomorrow and work on some of the things we didn’t do very well today.”
The Redskins have won district titles each year since 2018, and Mescher said the squad is looking forward to the opportunity to win another one on Saturday.
Fort Loramie lost four starters to graduation off last year’s team, and the team has relied on returnees stepping into larger roles this year.
“We’re confident, and we’re ready,” Mescher said. “It took the whole season to get us to be leaders, but I think once everyone filled in the roles from the people who (graduated) last year, we started to be leaders.”
Jackson Center, which was the No. 4 seed, finishes 13-12 overall. The Tigers, which are under the direction of first-year coach Tiffany Brown, have no seniors on the roster and are slated to return their entire squad.
Sophomores Presley Reese and McKinley Reichert each scored 10 points for the Tigers.
Fort Loramie shot 18 for 50 (36 percent) from the floor while Jackson Center shot 12 for 31 (39 percent).
