Turnover trouble dooms Fostoria

FOSTORIA — For as rough as Fostoria played the first half and into the third quarter, it had a chance. The Lady Red cut what was once a 12-point Lake lead to one point just over two minutes into the fourth quarter. But, turnovers continued to mount for Fostoria and that ultimately took away opportunity after opportunity. The Lady Red committed 30 turnovers including 10 in the fourth quarter, falling 47-38 to the Flyers in Northern Buckeye Conference action Thursday. "I think realistically what happens is we need to be better at handling hard stuff down the stretch," FHS coach Derek Angelone said. "We seen it in a couple games. We snuck by Oak Harbor, but we didn't handle hard stuff great down the stretch against Oak Harbor. We got lucky to sneak out there with a win." Despite a combined 4-9 overall record between the two entering the game, it was a contest of the two teams picked atop the preseason coaches poll. Fostoria was picked to repeat as league champions while Lake was selected second. "They were picked second in the league for a reason," Angelone said. "Don't let their record fool you. That's a great coached team. They were going to be ready. They're finally getting healthy right now. They're going to be able to do that to a lot of teams in the league. They're going to sneak up on a lot of people." The Lady Red (3-5, 3-2 NBC) trailed just 32-28 after three quarters after limiting Lake (2-5, 2-3) to four points in the third period. Karma Williams and Brooke Wiley exchanged buckets before Lyrique Johnson scored her first points of the night with a three-point play. That sliced the Flyers' lead to 34-33 with 5:59 left. Lauren Tobias answered with a triple for Lake, but Johnson scored again. Fostoria got a stop, but a turnover on the offensive end led to Wiley scoring again. The Lady Red couldn't get out of their own way. Too many turnovers led to empty possession, allowing Lake to build its lead back up. Tired legs after a tough, emotional loss to Eastwood on Tuesday allowed the Flyers to draw fouls with ease. Sydney Stanley and Savannah Little each knocked down two free throws to push Fostoria down 43-36. The Flyers put it away as Little scored twice down low, finishing off the 9-0 run that spanned 3:46. "Against a great league opponent, you can't have turnovers like that," Angelone said. "It is something that isn't going to work for us. That stems from not having that true point guard — someone that can set the tone on offense and get the ball up the court. "We're going to figure it out," he added. "It is going to be a process." Johnson was hounded throughout. Lake threw just about every defense imaginable at the junior. When Johnson did catch the ball on the post, she was often double- and triple-teamed before she could get a shot off. She finished with seven points and seven rebounds, but was scoreless with four rebounds through three quarters. "We know that's going to be the move for teams going forward," Angelone said. "You can't have a girl that has 26, 22, and 28 (points) and three double-doubles in a row and is a monster down there and not expect anything less. She is still going to be a focal point of our offense. "We have to get to a point where we're using her through the post to then feed our guards." Fostoria got off to a great start. Kamari Johnson hit a triple, Williams made two free throws, and Brooklyn Holman knocked in a jumper as the Lady Red raced to a 7-3 lead just over halfway through the quarter. But Lake, which scored more than 28 points in a game just once before Thursday, responded. The Flyers zipped through the Fostoria defense for a 12-0 run the final 3:14 of the quarter. Stanley made two free throws and scored off a Lady Red turnover before Kyleigh Christ connected on a 3-pointer. The run reached 14 straight points when Stanley opened the second quarter with a driving layup. The advantage was as big as 21-9 three minutes into the quarter.Lake led 28-19 at halftime. The Lady Red amassed 15 turnovers in the first half. "We don't make excuses, but we still as a team are learning to fill roles that we are still recovering from due to losing people," Angelone said. "We have yet to find a real true point guard. We started a freshman tonight to try to see if she could do it. I think she's going to be a fantastic player for us this year, but I don't know if she was ready for that spot tonight." Fostoria turned in a better defensive performance in the third quarter to give itself a chance. After forcing eight turnovers in the first half, the Lady Red picked up the pace and nudged Lake into six turnovers in the third quarter alone. The Flyers also made just 1-of-8 shots in the quarter. Fostoria got scores from Holman and Williams early in the quarter and a bucket by Williams late in the frame to get within 32-28 after three quarters. "We had a long talk (Wednesday) after the hard loss to Eastwood," Angelone said. "We still have a whole lot of goals. This is just a setback right here. Those goals are still going to be accomplished this year. We have a whole lot to prove." Holman led Fostoria with 12 points while grabbing five rebounds. Williams added 10 points and six rebounds. "Realistically, that's what you expect out of letterwinners," Angelone said. "They're people that came back and you expect them to play like that." The Lady Red continue to play without junior Alycia Middlebrooks, the top returning player and scorer from a team that won 20 games last season. She was injured early in the season. "That's somebody you can't replace no matter how hard you try," Angelone said. "You can't replace her talent, work ethic, skill and ability as a shooter. She did so much as a dominant ballhandler. She is more than just a shooting threat. She is more than a good player. "She still is a dominant leader for us," he added. "She is somebody we would love to have back. If that happens this season, that would put us in a good position." Fostoria is off until Wednesday when it hosts Otsego (1-5, 0-4). It is too early to write the Lady Red off from winning a second-straight league title, but they will likely have to run the table the rest of the way to have a chance. "Our girls are going to answer the bell," Angelone said. "They want to answer the bell. They responded great in the locker room tonight even after a loss like that. They know they have work to do. We know as a coaching staff we have a lot of work to do." Lake 47, Fostoria 38 Lake (2-5, 2-3): Sydney Stanley 3-7-14; Kaydence Eckenrode 0-0-0; Lauren Tobias 2-0-6; Brooke Wiley 3-2-8; Maddi Miller 1-1-3; Elena Longoria 1-0-3; Savannah Little 4-2-10; Kyleigh Christ 1-0-3. Totals: 15-12-47. Fostoria (3-5, 3-2): Brooklyn Holman 5-1-12; Chazlyn Titus 0-0-0; Kamari Johnson 1-0-3; Lyrique Johnson 3-1-7; Karma Williams 4-2-10; Jatasia Jones 0-2-2; Amijah Poole 1-1-4. Totals: 14-7-38. Lake 15 13 4 15 — 47Fostoria 7 12 9 10 — 38 Field goals: Lake 15-34; Fostoria 14-40. 3-point goals: Lake 5-13 (Tobias 2, Stanley, Longoria, Christ); Fostoria 3-11 (Holman, K. Johnson, Poole). Foul shots: Lake 12-16; Fostoria 7-12. Rebounds: Lake 23 (Wiley 9); Fostoria 26 (L. Johnson 8). Turnovers: Lake 20; Fostoria 30.