RUSSIA — Fort Loramie had to follow its double-overtime win over rival Minster with a road Shelby County Athletic League game on Thursday at rival Russia.
What could have been a potential letdown game for the Redskins instead turned into another blowout victory.
Fort Loramie jumped out to a double-digit lead in no time and cruised to a 78-31 win over the Raiders at Clair C. Naveau Gymnasium. It’s the 11th consecutive win for the Redskins (13-1, 7-0 SCAL), which haven’t lost since a last-second, one-point defeat at West Liberty-Salem on Dec. 10.
Fort Loramie set a school record by making 12 three-pointers against Russia. Six different players made 3s.
“There always is a little (bit of concern), especially coming to play at their place,” Fort Loramie coach Carla Seigel said of traveling to Russia. “They were strong in the beginning and pushing us around and more physical than us, but I like the tenacity we brought. The ball movement was great, and I can’t say enough about the 3-pointers.”
The Redskins, which are ranked No. 1 in Division IV in the Associated Press’ state poll, beat the defending state champion Wildcats by eight points last Saturday and beat Anna by eight on Jan. 3.
Aside from that, they’ve cruised through their last 11 games. Their other nine victories in the stretch have come by an average score 55.3-22.1. They’ve held two SCAL opponents (Jackson Center and Fairlawn) to 13 points during the stretch.
“We have a lot of girls with a lot of length, and we’ve been preaching all year to get your butts down and your hands up,” Siegel said. “They have long arms and they can create some deflections and create some havoc.”
The loss drops Russia to 9-5 overall and 5-3 in SCAL play. The Raiders had won six of their last seven before an 11-point loss at Covington on Tuesday.
“Those are two tough losses, and we can take it one of two ways,” Russia coach Andy Timmerman said. “We can learn from it, or we can hang our heads. We’ve got to worry about the next day. We’ve got a couple of practices here and then have Anna (on Monday), so it’s not getting any easier for us.”
Kennedi Gephart led Fort Loramie’s balanced scoring attack with 13 points. Marissa Meiring scored 12, Taylor Ratermann had 11 and Kenzie Hoelscher and Dana Rose each scored eight. Gephart and Ratermann each made three 3s.
Jenna Cordonnier and Laurissa Poling each scored 11 for Russia.
The Redskins jumped out to a 17-6 lead by the end of the first quarter and scored five points by the 7:00 mark of the second to take a 16-point lead. After a brief slowdown against Russia’s zone, the Redskins found a shooting rhythm again and boosted their halftime lead to 37-8.
Russia was outscored 20-2 in the second quarter.
“They bring a ton of intensity, and we didn’t do a good job of handling it,” Timmerman said of Fort Loramie’s defense. “Tip your hat off to them.”
Fort Loramie will host Houston on Saturday for an SCAL game. The Redskins won the first matchup 83-22 on Dec. 8.
Russia’s next game is Monday at Anna. The Rockets won the first matchup 45-34 on Dec. 8.
