Turnovers doom Stockaders in 58-42 loss

SANDUSKY – Too many empty possessions haunted Old Fort on Wednesday.The Stockaders racked up 26 turnovers while facing defending Division III state runners-up Chippewa.Lulls in scoring led to Old Fort falling 58-42 at the third annual Jingle Bell Jam at Cedar Point Sports Center in Sandusky."I think the girls might have been a little intimidated coming in when you're going against a team that were runners-up in the state last year," Old Fort coach Tim Ritzler said. "They have a very nice team. We watched them on film. I think once we were able to move past that mentally – after the first quarter, we competed with them. I think the girls started gaining confidence."The opportunity and challenge was something the Stockaders (4-4) faced head on. Old Fort is down a few players, but made no excuses."This is the third year playing in it and the last two times we played here, both teams we played went to state," Ritzler said. "We played Buckeye Central two years ago when they made their run and Northwest was Division II runners-up last year. We love coming up here because we love playing really good competition. There is always really good teams up here. I wouldn't have it any other way. I like playing the competition here."Old Fort fell behind 7-2 and 11-3 early as turnover woes hurt the Stockaders early on. Old Fort settled in a bit, getting a 3 from Ryanne Benner and two free throws by Alexis Ward to get within 11-9. The Chipps (5-1) still led just 13-11 as the quarter came to a close, but a turnover by Old Fort led to a layup from Bree Regan.Chippewa carried that quick momentum snatch into the second quarter. Sky Regen hit a 3 before two scores by Elena Moyer and one by Annie Henegar furthered the Stockaders' deficit to 24-11."It was our lack of execution at times," Ritzler said. "We would make the right play and miss the shot or make a wrong read and it led to a turnover. We had some turnovers on our own that weren't forced by them. If we can clean some of those little things up – turnovers, rebounds, and finishing – I really like where the team is at."Old Fort scored the next five points, but Chippewa used an 8-1 run over the final 4:09 of the half to go up 32-17 at the break. The Chipps added the first nine points of the third quarter to balloon the advantage to 41-17. The Stockaders struggled against the Chippewa press and even when they did comfortably get into the full-court, a double-team or trio of defenders in the lane awaited."They're very good at getting their hands up defensively," Ritzler said. "They got their hands on a lot of passes and created a lot of turnovers. I think it sped us up a little bit and we had some on our own."The Stockaders were able to get past the turnover woes and put some points on the board the rest of the way. Lexi Quickle's 3-pointer drew Old Fort with in 45-26 after three quarters. The closest the Stockaders got the rest of the way was 15 points, but Old Fort scored 25 points over the final 10:57 of the game to take some positives from the loss."It is just really everybody stepping up, wanting the ball, and being confident," Ritzler said. "That's something we've really talked about. At times when teams pressure us, we kind of shy away from the ball. We have to do a better job of stepping up when there is pressure. Then when we get it, we need to make a good decision with it."It was clear Chippewa was not going to let sharpshooter Ryen Smith get going. The Chipps paid full attention to her throughout, allowing just a late layup in the fourth quarter to the deadly outside shooter."Ryen is a very good scorer for us and they were face-guarding her to take her away," Ritzler said. "We needed other girls to step up and I think we did a better job in the second half where we were getting aggressive going to the basket. We were able to draw some fouls and get to the line."Mackenzie Fortney paced Old Fort with 13 points and eight rebounds while Ward scored 10 points.The Stockaders have another tough test waiting Saturday at Arcadia (7-1) before jumping back into Sandusky Bay Conference River Division play after the beginning of the new year."We've played a heck of a schedule," Ritzler said. "We just got done with Gibsonburg and Lakota last week and then Chippewa today. We made it through a real, real tough part of our schedule and learned a lot about ourselves. We just have to keep getting better from here." Chippewa 58, Old Fort 42Chippewa 15-17-13-13 - 58Old Fort 11-6-9-16 - 42Chippewa (5-1): 21-44 FG, 11-13 FT, 5-16 3pt (S. Regan 2, Henegar, A. Regan, Moyer), 26 rebounds (Moyer 9), 17 turnovers. Scoring: Annie Henegar 4 0-0 9, Bree Regan 1 1-2 3, Aira Regan 4 1-1 10, Sky Regan 4 4-4 14, Elena Moyer 7 4-4 19, Nicole Johnson 1 1-2 3.Old Fort (4-4): 13-36 FG, 12-22 FT, 4-10 3pt (Ward 2, Quickle, Benner), 26 rebounds (Fortney 8), 26 turnovers. Scoring: Addy Gillmor 1 2-2 4, Lexi Quickle 2 1-2 6, Alexis Ward 2 4-6 10, Ryen Smith 1 0-0 2, Mackenzie Fortney 4 5-10 13, Trinity Quaintance 0 0-2 0, Ryanne Benner 2 0-0 5, Rylan Perry 1 0-0 2.