'Something special'

FORT RECOVERY - In 1991, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls were just beginning their NBA dynasty, "60 Minutes," "Roseanne" and "Cheers" ruled the television world, "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" was the hottest movie at the box office and the Fort Recovery girls basketball program won the Midwest Athletic Conference championship.

Nearly 30 years later, the Indians finally won an MAC girls basketball championship again.

On Thursday, Fort Recovery beat New Bremen 47-41 at Fort Site Fieldhouse to claim the program's first title since the 1990-91 season.

Head coach Holly Gann, 31, was a baby when the last championship happened, but she's happy to help bring one back to her hometown in her first season at the helm.

"This is something special for this community," Gann said.

New Bremen made Fort Recovery earn it.

The Cardinals cut a once 20-point deficit down to two early in the fourth quarter. But with the game hanging in the balance, Kierra Wendel made back-to-back hoops to help the Indians seal the win. Eight fourth-quarter turnovers by New Bremen - including five in a row - put a dent in its comeback bid, too.

"It's a tough place to play in," New Bremen coach Chris Burden said. "Senior night, big crowd. Early on we didn't execute. We didn't do the things we were taught to do. Credit to our girls for hanging in there."

Following a game-opening 3-pointer by New Bremen's Kira Bertke, Fort Recovery went on a 10-0 run. Val Muhlenkamp and Alli Vaughn each scored four during the stretch. The Indians never trailed after Brooke Kahlig's offensive stickback broke a 3-all tie. Paige Fortkamp's late 3 made the score 13-5.

Fort Recovery was on from deep to start the second quarter. Muhlenkamp stuck back-to-back treys to give her team their first double-digit lead. Wendel added another as part of her personal five-point quarter as the Indians' lead grew to 28-8.

Then the Cardinals began chipping away.

Madison Cordonnier scored all seven of her first-half points in the second quarter, and New Bremen went on an 11-1 run to tighten its deficit to 29-19 at halftime.

The game tightened up even more in the third quarter. Cordonnier scored eight and Kaylee Freund added five as the Cardinals got within 36-32.

"We talked at halftime and told them we wanted (Fort Recovery's lead) under five," Burden said. "We got it to four at the end of the third quarter. We were tickled. We told them 'This is our time now. We have nothing to lose.'"

Fort Recovery missed its first seven field goal attempts to start the fourth. And a pair of free throws by Elli Roetgerman cut Bremen's deficit to two. Vaughn finally ended Fort's long scoring draught with a step-back jumper from the free throw line nearly three minutes into the quarter.

Shortly after, Wendel crossed up her defender - twice - for jumpers in the paint on consecutive possessions to send Fort on its way to victory.

"The Wendel girl hit a couple jumpers in the lane there to stretch that two-point lead to six," Burden said. "Credit to them. They made the plays at the end."

"I think we had more composure late in the game than a lot of other teams would," Gann added. "They didn't get nervous. They didn't start complaining at each other. We knew what we had to do and that was huge. For (Wendel) there, she doesn't get to sit down a lot. She pushed through. She was very tenacious and just got the job done. She wasn't afraid. She was willing to take a risk."

Cordonnier led all scorers with 18 points. Bertke added 10 for the Cardinals (13-9, 3-6 MAC), who open tournament play with Hardin Northern at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at Bath High School.

Muhlenkamp had 12 and Vaughn added 11 for the Indians , who rallied from a loss to Versailles in their MAC opener to win eight straight conference games.

Gann's dad couldn't attend Thursday's game because he was undergoing knee replacement surgery. But she did have plenty of Fort fans with whom to celebrate after the game.

When the celebration is over, Fort Recovery will prepare for its tournament opener. The Indians will meet either St. Henry or Perry on Feb. 22 at Bath.

"We should be hungrier," Gann said. "This should fuel the fire. It's a long season, so this is just what we need to be able to rejuvenate us to get to the next level. But it's one game, one day at a time."