MINSTER — It was far from a flawless performance, but it was a victory in a tight game, and a good lesson according to Fort Loramie coach Carla Siegel.

The Redskins recovered from a poor period of play during the second and third quarters, rallied to take a lead and held on to earn a 50-47 win over rival Minster on Saturday.

It was the seventh straight win for the Redskins (7-1), which haven’t lost since a 36-33 loss to Miami East in a season opener.

Saturday’s win was the first back-and-forth battle Fort Loramie has been in since the Nov. 24 loss to the Vikings; they had won every game since by at least 17 points.

“I told (our players) their perseverance was worth taking note, because they could have buckled,” Siegel said. “… I felt for the first three quarters, every loose ball fell into (Minster’s) hands, every time we were an inch from the ball, they would get it and get an easy bucket. That was probably deflating for the girls, as well as me.

“But they showed fight, hit some big shots in the third quarter to get that score back down a couple digits, which gave us some life.”

Minster led 26-23 at halftime. Fort Loramie briefly took the lead early in the third, but the Wildcats regained control and built a 33-27 lead.

Fort Loramie went on a 9-3 run to tie it and trailed 42-41 by the end of the quarter, then took the lead in the fourth and held on the rest of the way.

“Minster got in foul trouble, and some of their people weren’t on the floor, which helped us get into our offense,” Siegel said. “We got Victoria (Mescher) for a couple backdoor cuts, easy baskets to get the score to open up a little bit.

“When the girls execute our offense, we’re a pretty good team. When the girls don’t execute our offense, then we don’t look very good at all.”

Senior guard Jaden Rose helped the squad get going with two 3-pointers in the third and helped secure the win from the free-throw line in the fourth.

The Redskins led 48-45, but Lydia Mescher made a basket with just under 10 seconds left to cut the gap to one.

After a timeout, Fort Loramie got the ball inbounds to Rose, who was fouled shortly after. The Redskins had struggled from the free-throw line on Saturday, but Rose made two foul shots to push the gap back to three points.

Rose finished with 10 points and had four steals and four assists.

“She had a great game today,” Siegel said. “She had to stop (Minster junior guard Sadie) Niemeyer, and she gets us into our offensive sets. She had a couple of big 3’s today. Jaden’s a great leader; we’re very lucky to have her on our team.”

The Wildcats had to get the ball down court with about three seconds left after Rose’s free throws. Freshman guard Kali Schmiesing broke free in the backcourt, but the inbounds pass was slightly off, and she had to chase it. Fort Loramie senior Skyler Albers was able to catch up and knocked the ball away to prevent Schmiesing from getting off a shot.

Albers led the Redskins with 13 points and had six rebounds and four steals. Victoria Mescher scored 12.

Fort Loramie led 13-9 at the end of the first quarter, but the Wildcats used a 17-10 advantage in the second to take a three-point halftime lead.

“I don’t think our girls were being aggressive,” Siegel said of the squad’s early offensive problems. “We talked about our game plan yesterday, and that if they trap us on top, we’re attacking on the back side.

“There were so many times, in the first quarter especially, where the ball went to the block on the back side, and my post player didn’t shoot. I don’t know why. They were kicking it out for 12-foot shots. That’s not what we do.”

It was the second consecutive loss for Minster (4-3), which suffered its first Midwest Athletic Conference loss of the season in a 46-34 defeat against Marion Local on Thursday.

Lydia Mescher led the Wildcats with 14 points while Anna Larger scored 13. Schmiesing scored eight points off the bench in two quarters of play; she was pressed into action after other guards got in early foul trouble.

“Minster was very fast today, faster than I’d seen them on film,” Siegel said. “They were very hungry for the ball. They were everywhere (today). They played faster than we did.”

Fort Loramie, which has beaten Minster the last six times the teams have faced off, is scheduled to host Fairlawn on Thursday in a Shelby County Athletic League game and travel to Versailles on Saturday.

Point guard brings down 12 rebounds for Sidney

Sidney won a battle of zone defenses 38-29 on Saturday against West Carrollton to stay unbeaten in Miami Valley League play.

The Yellow Jackets (6-1, 5-0 MVL Valley Division) used a 12-2 scoring advantage in the second quarter to take control.

Jordan Scully and Larkyn Vordemark each scored 10 points while Kiara Hudgins added nine.

Hudgins, a senior point guard who is 5-foot-4, led the team with 12 rebounds. She is averaging 5.1 rebounds per game, along with 4.6 steals and 3.9 assists.

Junior forward Kelis McNeal scored six points, brought down 11 rebounds and had three steals. Vordemark had five rebounds.

Sidney is scheduled to travel to Fairborn on Wednesday and Piqua on Saturday.

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