Wild ending

NEW BREMEN - New Bremen wanted a happy ending on Senior Night.

A group of underclassmen from Fort Recovery had a different ending in mind.

Sophomore Kierra Wendel scored eight of her 12 points in the fourth quarter, including the two go-ahead free throws, and classmate Alli Vaughn had five of her 11 points in the final frame as the Indians rallied from a 12-point deficit to stun the Cardinals, 42-39, at the Nest.

It took the Indians three quarters to reach 21 points. They outscored the Cardinals 21-11 in the fourth quarter and finished with a 15-0 run in the final 2 minutes and 10 seconds. Sophomore Brooke Kahlig knocked down two 3s in the closing run, Wendel's free throws gave Fort a 40-39 lead with 26.9 seconds left and Vaughn later added two insurance shots from the line.

"It's easier to play from behind because you have nothing to lose at that point," Fort Recovery coach Brian Patch said. "It's harder to play with the lead. I've been on the other side of that a lot of times. Your kids start to panic a little bit, the pressure gets on them a little bit. Especially once we hit that Brooke Kahlig 3 in the corner - that kind of gave us some momentum. We got a couple steals, and then you could tell that they kind of got the deer-in-the-headlight look. … Then we were able to make plays. Ki hit two big free throws for us. Alli hits two free throws at the end to kind of seal it."

New Bremen committed six turnovers in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals had a chance to reclaim the lead after Wendel's free throws but missed a layup. They also couldn't connect on the tying 3-point attempt as time expired.

"They put the pressure on us and we just didn't handle it very well," New Bremen coach Chris Burden said. "They got a couple turnover-layups at their end, and we just didn't take care of the basketball down the stretch. Against good, well-prepared teams, you just can't do that. They hit some 3s late in the game when they had to, and we just didn't finish like we should have."

It looked good for the Cardinals after three quarters.

After New Bremen fell behind 8-0 to start the game, it fought back to take a 13-12 halftime lead.

The teams combined for 24 points in the third quarter. With the score tied at 21-all, Kaylee Freund ignited a 7-0 Cardinal run by stealing a pass and then dishing to Ellie Roetgerman for a bucket. Freund assisted Roetgerman again the next trip down. Later, Katie Howell capped the run with a 3-ball that put New Bremen ahead 28-21 entering the fourth.

"I felt pretty good," Burden said. "Defensively, we were playing pretty well. I thought things were going pretty well. We were running through our sets, getting the looks that we wanted and making shots and playing good solid defense. Going into the fourth quarter, I liked our chances."

The fourth quarter started well for New Bremen, too, as Kelly Naylor extended its lead to 10 with a trey. Madison Cordonnier added six points in the quarter for the Cardinals, who upped their lead to 39-27.

But Wendel kept Fort Recovery afloat by scoring six points of her own. With 1:27 left, Vaughn collected her own miss and fired a pass in the corner to an open Kahlig, who nailed a 3 that made the score 39-35. New Bremen had turnovers on consecutive possessions. It led to a Kahlig 3 and Wendel's two freebies.

Kahlig had all eight of her points in the second half for Fort Recovery, which finishes 11-11 overall and 3-6 in the Midwest Athletic Conference.

"I thought we played a great game (against state-ranked Tri-Village last Saturday). We just didn't finish the game off," Patch said. "That's kind of been our story the whole year, aside from the Minster, Liberty-Benton and O-G games. I mean, we were in every game until the last two or three minutes. We just didn't find ways to finish them off. Tonight our kids battled through it and found a way."

Cordonnier scored a game-high 13 points for the Cardinals. Naylor, one of six seniors on the roster, had nine points for New Bremen (14-8, 4-5 MAC).

"This one game does not define our seniors one bit," Burden said. "They changed the culture of the program when they came in as freshmen, and they've built upon that.

"We're not done," he added. "The regular season is over, but the second half of the season is starting next week. Whatever happens happens."

Both Fort Recovery and New Bremen have byes to start the Division IV tournament. Fort Recovery will take on the winner of Ridgemont and LCC on Feb. 23 in Coldwater. New Bremen will play the winner of New Knoxville and Lima Perry on Feb. 23 in St. Marys.