Fostoria pulls out OT win over H-L

BASCOM – Fostoria's defense was the difference. After watching a 12-point fourth-quarter lead disappear and allowing Hopewell-Loudon to score 22 points in the quarter, the Lady Red locked in during overtime. Fostoria surrendered just three points in the extra session and got big shots from Lyrique Johnson and Amijah Poole to put away the Chieftains 48-44 in non-league action. "I thought our defense was phenomenal in the first half too," FHS coach Derek Angelone said. "To give up 14 points to any decent basketball team, we'll take that every day of the week. Nothing really changed in overtime in terms of us wanting to step up and play pressure defense." Tied at 41 after regulation, both teams had to dig deep in overtime. Sidney Brickner split two free throws to open overtime, but Johnson scored on the other end for the Lady Red (5-5). Isabelle Beidelschies answered for the Chieftains (4-6), but Poole's corner triple with 1:46 to play put Fostoria up for good. "I kind of called them out in the fourth quarter," Angelone said. "There's been times this season where the going has got tough and we haven't handled tough well. They ended up handling tough well down the stretch. We made some great passes. We did a lot of things great late and especially in overtime to pull out a tough win." After an empty possession by H-L, Johnson scored again with 1:17 to go. Carley Coffman got to the line for the Chieftains, but missed both shots. Karma Williams did the same for Fostoria on the other end. Still down just four with 30 seconds to go, Hopewell-Loudon committed one of its 18 turnovers on the night. The Chieftains couldn't sustain the fight they needed to get the game into overtime. "We just got in a hurry," H-L coach Steve Suter said. "It is the first time in that situation and there was some panic a little bit. We didn't fully execute. They did a nice job faceguarding Carley. We needed somebody else to step up." Overtime seemed a far distant thought the way Fostoria played the final six minutes of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter. The game was tied at 14 at halftime and still 19-19 after a 3 by Coffman. The Lady Red dominated the rest of the quarter. Johnson knocked down two free throws before dishing to Jatasia Jones for a bucket. Johnson picked a steal and scored and followed that up with an offensive rebound and putback. Williams made a pair of free throws to finish the 10-0 run over the final 6:57 of the quarter. "Coming out of half, we preach continuously every game that the third quarter has to be our quarter no matter who we play," Angelone said. "It is such big momentum for any team you play. We see how that can change a game like tonight. If we didn't have that huge third quarter, we weren't looking at the outcome we had tonight." Fostoria pushed the lead as big as 35-23 when Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound and found Alajah Williams on the other half of the paint for the score. Hopewell-Loudon got back into the game slowly but surely. Beidelschies scored on a putback and Coffman's brought the Chieftains within 36-30. H-L added the next seven points too with Coffman's tally around a triple-team gave the Chieftains a 37-36 lead with 2:22 remaining. Brooklyn Holman answered with a triple before Beidelschies tied the game at 39 with 1:21 to go. Brickner then picked a steal and scored, but Jones knotted the game at 41. "I think they just chewed away at it," Angelone said. "Offensively, we didn't always have the greatest shot selection. We have a tendency to rush some shots instead of waiting to get ourselves the best opportunities." Both teams had chances in the final minute, but neither seized the win then. After a H-L timeout with 11 seconds to go, Brickner got a good look at the bucket in the lane, but her jumper drew iron, sending the game into overtime. "She got a good look," Suter said. "At that point, you want to make sure we get the last shot. Even if you don't get a score, it is going to overtime. We didn't execute quite the way the play was drawn up. I'll take what we got." The Chieftains led 6-2 early, but Fostoria responded, tying the game at 8 after one quarter. In the second quarter, the Chieftains went up 14-9 on a Coffman 3, but went scoreless the final 2:27 of the half. That allowed the Lady Red to tie the game at 14. Coffman paced Hopewell-Loudon with 16 points while grabbing nine rebounds. Beidelschies had a monster double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds. Brickner added 10 points and Anna Daniel grabbed eight rebounds. "These girls are great," Suter said. "I can't fault the effort. This is like the third time we've done this where we've gotten ourselves down early and then we spend so much energy fighting back that we run out of gas." Karma Williams (eight rebounds) led Fostoria with 12 points. Johnson finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, Poole had 10 points, and Jones added eight points and seven rebounds. But, it was perhaps the smallest player on the floor that had the biggest impact. Holman - who is 5-foot-1 at best - not only led the team with 10 rebounds, but ran the offense from the point guard position. She also played phenomenal defense throughout. "Brooklyn had to step into a role that wasn't necessarily a role she's played her entire life," Angelone said. "She has had to be our primary ballhandler with the loss of Alycia (Middlebrooks) this year. She'll tell you right off the bat that it is not something she was necessarily comfortable with. "She's a fantastic set shooter and 2-guard," he added. "She's still trying to find that rhythm. It is not a natural spot for her, but she is working really hard for us and our team in order to build that." Fostoria 48, Hopewell-Loudon 44 OT Fostoria 8-6-15-12-7 - 48 Hopewell-Loudon 8-6-5-22-3 - 44 Fostoria (5-5): 16-55 FG, 10-20 FT, 6-16 3pt (Poole 2, K. Williams 2, Holman, Titus), 38 rebounds (Holman 10), 14 turnovers. Scoring: Brooklyn Holman 1 0-0 3, Kamryn Coopshaw 0 0-0 0, Jatasia Jones 2 4-5 8, Amijah Poole 3 2-6 10, Karma Williams 4 2-4 12, Lyrique Johnson 4 2-4 10, Chazlyn Titus 1 0-0 3, Alajah Williams 1 0-1 2. Hopewell-Loudon (4-6): 15-49 FG, 9-18 FT, 5-20 3pt (Coffman 4, Brickner), 44 rebounds (Beidelschies 14), 18 turnovers. Scoring: Sidney Beickner 3 3-4 10, Isabelle Beidelschies 4 4-6 12, Anna Daniel 1 0-0 0, Laura Cook 1 0-0 2, Carley Coffman 5 2-8 16, Mylie Alt 1 0-0 2.