FORT LORAMIE — Anna and Fort Loramie are close to midseason form defensively less than a week into the season.

Offensively?

Fort Loramie coach Carla Siegel described her squad as chaotic on offense. Anna coach Randy Huber described his squad as unproductive offensively.

Fort Loramie was the most effective on offense in the teams’ Shelby County Athletic League opener on Tuesday. The Redskins built an 18-point lead by halftime and beat the Rockets 49-30.

Siegel said it was a step in the right direction for Fort Loramie (1-1), which lost its season opener 36-33 to Miami East on Friday.

“There’s a lot of growth we still need to show, but these kind of games will only help us to be better and to learn from our mistakes,” Siegel said.

The Redskins led by as many as 22 before Anna (1-1) started pressing in the fourth quarter. The Rockets created several turnovers and pulled within 13 points, but they still continued to struggle offensively even during that stretch, as they missed a few shots that could have cut the gap to single digits.

“Against New Knoxville (a 42-29 win on Saturday), we created 30 turnovers,” Huber said. “We weren’t close to 30 tonight, but the girls don’t stop. They stayed in it. They give you effort, and they just keep going. We just can’t get that far down. You can’t climb that tall a mountain.

“… Defensively, we’re kind of in stride. Offensively, we’re not getting shots to drop, whether close or long range. We’re just not finding the bottom of the net. That’s going to bite you if you can’t get some of those to drop.”

Fort Loramie scored the last six points (including a 3-pointer by Skyler Albers at the buzzer) to push the final margin to 19.

Fort Loramie shot 19 for 47 (40 percent) from the floor while Anna shot 9 for 33 (27 percent). The Redskins unofficially committed 21 turnovers while Anna committed 18.

“We’ve got to do a better job taking care of the ball,” Siegel said. “Our passes are a little erratic, our cuts are not where they need to be. People always tell me offense comes later than defense, and that is definitely happening this year with us.

“… There’s no fluidity. There’s chaos. We’re trying to walk them through every step to get them where they need to be.”

Siegel said the squad has had limited practice time so far due in part to several players missing nearly a week due to a band trip to Disney World.

The Redskins have also played their first two games without junior forward Avery Brandewie, who sprained an ankle last week. She averaged about 12 points and eight rebounds per game last season.

“I think it’s obvious our offense misses her,” Siegel said. “The thing people don’t realize about Avery is she is a team player. Yeah, she scores a lot for us, she does a great job. But last year, she led our team in assists, as a post player.

“She’s always telling people where to go and what to do. …She’s like a coach on the floor, and we’re missing that on the offensive end. When she comes back, it will definitely uplift everybody on our team.”

Carissa Meyer, a senior guard, led Fort Loramie with 12 points and had three steals. Junior forward Victoria Mescher scored 11 points and Albers, a senior guard, scored 10. Senior forward Summer Hoying scored six points and had seven rebounds and three steals.

Anna senior guard Brenna Cobb picked up her second foul midway through the first quarter and sat for most of the rest of the first half. She scored all 13 points of her points in the second half, including nine in the fourth quarter.

“We go as Brenna goes,” Huber said. “… We got in trouble (in the first half), a couple of calls didn’t go our way, and we just couldn’t get those easy shots to fall. We probably left 10 baskets on the floor we generally make. I’m not talking 12 footers, I’m talking point blank, and we couldn’t get them to drop. That was the difference in the game.”

The Redskins are scheduled to travel to Findlay Liberty-Benton on Saturday, then have two league games on the road at Botkins and Houston next week before traveling to Arcanum next Saturday.

Liberty-Benton finished 21-3 last year and returns several key players, including Bowling Green commit Lauren Gerken, a 6-foot-0 forward. She scored 15 points in a 51-46 loss to Fort Loramie last year.

“She amazed me as a freshman,” Siegel said. “… She can shoot the 3, she can post up. …That’s going to be a battle for us. We’re going to hope that our defense causes them some pressure, because I think that’s how we beat them last year. I don’t think up there in that area they see the kind of defense we see in Shelby County and the MAC.

“We’re going to hope our defense gives us the edge. But if we can’t figure out how to score more points, we’re going to be in trouble on Saturday.”

Anna is scheduled to host Versailles on Saturday; it will be the Tigers’ first game.

Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.