FORT LORAMIE — Fort Loramie missed chances in regulation to pull away from Minster but was finally able to in double overtime on Saturday.
The Redskins outscored Minster by five points in double overtime to earn a 43-38 win and stay undefeated.
It was an uncharacteristically sloppy game between the two archrivals. Fort Loramie (7-0) battled to a 10-8 lead by halftime, and while both teams shot better from the field in the second half, neither ever shot well from the free-throw line.
Fort Loramie’s free-throw shooting struggles prevented the squad from pulling away from Minster (2-4) in the fourth quarter, and a defensive lapse allowed the Wildcats to hit a wide-open 3 at the end of the first overtime to tie it.
But the Redskins never let mistakes spiral only trailed for a few seconds in the contest, and never in either overtime.
“I always say in big games like this, you’re going to learn a lot about your team,” Fort Loramie coach Carla Siegel said. “I think the girls learned that we need to take care of the ball in pressure situations. We had a quite a few turnovers at the end of regulation when we were still up and quite a few turnovers in the first overtime.
“But I can’t say enough about our perseverance. In that second overtime, I thought we did a better job of taking care of the ball and rebounding.
“… At the end of the day, we learned a lot about ourselves. We have a lot of things we need to work on, but a win’s a win.”
Skyler Albers made a 3 and Ava Turner made a basket in double overtime, and Turner split two pairs of free throws and Jaden Rose split two pairs of free throws to secure the win.
Siegel, who is closing in on 500 career wins, credited Turner and Rose for making some foul shots.
“It’s a long game, and you have to learn from your mistakes and not keep making the same mistakes over and over,” Siegel said.
Fort Loramie shot 17 for 31 (54.8 percent) from the free-throw line and Minster shot 4 for 10. The Wildcats missed three free-throw attempts in double overtime.
The Redskins led 6-2 at the end of the first quarter before Minster closed the gap to two points at halftime. Avery Brandewie scored six points in the third quarter to help led a 15-12 scoring edge that pushed Fort Loramie’s lead to 25-20.
But Minster used a 10-5 scoring edge in the fourth to force overtime. After Fort Loramie built a lead in overtime, Lyndi Hemmelgarn hit a wide-open 3 from the right corner to tie it 34-34 and force a second overtime.
“We lost (Hemmelgarn) and gave up that wide open 3 and let them back in the game,” Siegel said. “We just talked in the locker room with them that they have to trust what we’re doing, trust their teammates and do your job. Hopefully, we’ll learn from today’s game and improve on some things.”
Brandewie led the squad with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Albers finished with eight points and Turner finished with eight points and four steals. Jaden Rose scored four points and had five assists and four steals.
“Skyler is a great athlete and had two huge 3’s when we needed them,” Siegel said. “Avery Brandewie does a great job for us day in and day out offensively and defensively. I know everybody sees in the paper the leading scorers and there’s not much talk about the defense, but Avery plays tremendous defense.”
It capped off a week of tough games for the Redskins. They beat Tipp City Bethel 42-34 on Monday and Jackson Center 46-24 on Thursday; they led 16-8 at halftime on Thursday before pulling away in the second half.
“I think for us mentally to win this game today in the environment that we did in double overtime in their third game this week, I hope that these girls can leap off of that and propel us into the second half of the season.”
The Redskins will play next on Saturday when they host Versailles.
Minster will play next on Thursday when it travels to undefeated Parkway.
Katie McClurg, Lily Barhorst and Addi Inskeep each scored seven points for Minster.
