Lady Green survives Musketeers’ scare

By Robin Eberle, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Monday, February 26, 2007 (1 year, 8 months ago)
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HAVILAND — There was one large sigh of relief from the Ottoville contingent Saturday night at Wayne Trace high school after the Division IV sectional championship game that featured Fort Jennings and its PCL rival, the Lady Green.

No, it was not the anticipated icy weather that caused the cancellation of the second game of the evening between Crestview and Lincolnview.

It was the fact that the Lady Musketeers almost pulled off a monumental upset of the state-ranked Lady Green. It took all four quarters before Ottoville (17-4) secured a 39-25 victory on the back of its intense defensive effort over the final two quarters.

Ft. Jennings (11-11) opened the scoring with a Rachel Landwehr layup, followed by a baseline jumper from Lynzie Swartz, a 15-footer from Erica Metzger and another layin from Landwehr for an 8-0 lead over the first 4 1/2 minutes. Ottoville’s Gina Beining stopped the bleeding with a stickback. Landwehr’s sixth point of the quarter came on a rebounded miss shot at the 2-minute mark. A free throw from Erika Kaufman was a prelude to some much needed heroics for the Lady Green in the form of two straight steals/layups from Erica Vorst in the final minute to close the deficit to 10-7.

That sequence took some of the stress off the Lady Green coaching staff.

“Erica’s two steals and baskets got us back in the game,” commented a relieved Ottoville head coach David P. Kleman.

A Beining basket and another Vorst layup gave Ottoville its first lead of 11-10 at the 5-minute mark. Landwehr broke the Jennings’ scoring drought that lasted seven minutes and the Musketeers pushed the lead to 14-11 before Krystal Markward hit a key 3-pointer in the corner with one minute remaining in the half to knot the score at 14-all. The teams traded baskets in the final minute of play and were tied 16-16 at the half.

“Krystal’s 3 in the corner was a huge basket for us at the end of the first half,” Kleman stated.

Ottoville would then up its defensive intensity in the second 16 minutes.

“Our second-half team defense was tremendous and holding Landwehr scoreless in the last two quarters was a big part of our success. But the key to changing the momentum of the game was the two crucial steals and layups by Krystal Markward in the third period,” Kleman noted.

Ottoville’s defense held Ft. Jennings to just nine second-half points.

With the score tied 21-21 at the 3:30 mark of the third stanza, it was time for Markward’s theatrics. Two straight steals off errant passes found her laying in two straight baskets and bumping the Lady Green’s advantage to 25-21. There was no quit in Jennings as Metzger got fouled and calmly sank both. Courtney Schimmoeller’s baseline drive at the buzzer gave Ottoville its largest lead thus far at 29-23 after three quarters.

Ottoville kept up its defensive pressure, outscoring the Lady Musketeers 10-2 in the final frame for a 39-25 victory and advancing to district semifinal play against Kalida Thursday evening at the Elida Fieldhouse.

Ottoville was led by Vorst with 10 and followed by Schimmoeller, Markward and Beining with eight apiece.

Ft. Jennings was led by Landwehr with eight points.

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