Indians pull away from Bulldogs late

CELINA - Celina's defense was good enough to keep it in the game for 3 1/2 quarters, but then Fort Recovery stepped up and the Bulldogs' offense stalled out.

The Indians pulled away in the fourth for a 36-28 girls basketball win at the Fieldhouse Tuesday.

"We turned our pressure up and that made them frazzled," Fort Recovery coach Holly Gann said. "Made some defensive stops, were able to multiply on the other end. We broke away. We've talked about that a lot too: 'We can play with these guys, we can go two for two.' The girls found a way to break away. They built enough cushion where we didn't have to get all flustered at the end."

After Fort Recovery (6-14) took a seven-point lead late in the third, Amelia Lutz hit a contested three with 4.2 seconds left to make it 25-21 Indians going into the fourth. Celina (5-16) had a chance to make it a one-possession game after Fort Recovery was called for a technical for coming out with six players on the court, but two misses from the foul line kept the lead at four.

Kyilla Billingsley hit a free throw to make it 25-22, and after the two teams traded baskets, Cali Wendel sank a trey from the top of the key to extend the lead to six.

Wendel hit a free throw and Kennedy Muhlenkamp added two more to stretch the lead to nine with four minutes left, and the Bulldogs never recovered.

"They could've drew in to what was happening in the second half, but the girls found a way to finish," Gann said. "With this process, our learning and growing, where we're at and where we're going, they found a way to lock the doors down and finish."

Celina scored the first five points of the game and led 7-5 after the first quarter, but then the momentum started to turn. Saige Leuthold tied the game a minute into the second and Maddie Guggenbiller banked in a deep three to give the Indians their first lead with 6:18 left in the half.

Payton Bertke and Billingsley hit four free throws to put Celina back on top, but Wendel put Fort Recovery back on top to stay with a bucket 18 seconds later. In the final three minutes, the Bulldogs took three shots from the field and missed all of them as Fort Recovery went into halftime with a 14-12 lead.

In the first half, Celina shot 2-of-17 from the field and committed 11 turnovers.

"It's been the story all year," Celina coach Brett Baucher said. "We play solid defense for a really long time, but when you fail to get shots off and put the ball in the hole, it makes it really tough to beat anybody."

Wendel extended the lead with a layup to open the third quarter, and after Billingsley answered, the two teams went two minutes scoreless before Gann called timeout. Off the inbounds pass, Wendel drained a trey from the left elbow to open up the lead.

Billingsley and Brooke Baucher answered with buckets, but Wendel hit another trey with 2:31 left in the third to make it 22-18.

"At halftime, we just told her, 'Get your feet right, we need you to shoot,' " Gann said. "So somebody called timeout, we're getting the ball, and I said, 'Cali, you ready to shoot a three?' She said, 'Ah, I don't know,' and I said, 'Get your feet set and let it fly. That's it.' Goes and knocks the next one down, sets a flare, goes down and hits another three. For her, that's what she needs to be able to turn it up."

Wendel racked up 17 points, with 15 coming in the second half, as well on six steals.

"When Cali scores, we win," Gann said. "That's the M.O. When she can score, we can win. Well, she's figured that out, and we've had a great second half of our season, if you look at it."

Billingsley led Celina with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Fort Recovery finishes the regular season on Thursday with a trip to New Knoxville, while Celina's regular season finale will be back at the Fieldhouse against Wapakoneta.

"One thing I told the girls, I'm thankful we've got one more home game and that wasn't our last one," coach Baucher said. "We've got another opportunity to get better. I think they're a very resilient bunch and they'll bounce back."